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The Commemorative Quarter for Maine





Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Brunswick (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Brunswick. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Brunswick is located in Cumberland County.

To see how the shape of Maine's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cumberland County: Androscoggin, Oxford, Sagadahoc & York.

Below are the counties that are near Brunswick. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brunswick:

  • Cumberland County     (The home county of Brunswick)
  • Androscoggin County
  • Kennebec County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brunswick, with the one closest to Brunswick listed first.
    • Litchfield Corners
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Litchfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • South Monmouth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Batchelders Crossing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • West Gardiner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Gardiner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Gardiner
      • West Gardiner is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,376 people
    • South Gardiner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Gardiner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gardiner
      • South Gardiner is located in Kennebec County
    • East Monmouth
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Monmouth
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • East Pittston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Gardiner
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Pittston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pittston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittston
      • Pittston is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,819 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pittston
      • From Brunswick to Pittston
    • Randolph
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randolph have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Randolph is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,710 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Randolph <2>
  • Lincoln County
  • Oxford County
  • Sagadahoc County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brunswick, with the one closest to Brunswick listed first.
    • Topsham
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Topsham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsham
      • Topsham is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,942 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topsham <2>
    • Pejepscot
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • West Bath
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bath
      • West Bath is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,932 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Bath <2>
    • Sabino
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bath
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Bowdoinham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Days Ferry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Woolwich
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woolwich have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolwich
      • Woolwich is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,218 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woolwich <2>
    • Phippsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phippsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phippsburg
      • Phippsburg is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,275 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Phippsburg <2>
    • Bowdoin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowdoin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowdoin
      • Bowdoin is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,222 people
    • Harwards
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harwards. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwards
      • Harwards is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harwards
      • From Brunswick to Harwards
    • Arrowsic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrowsic have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowsic
      • Arrowsic is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arrowsic <2>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brunswick, see our County-by-County Page for Brunswick.

Cemeteries Near Brunswick ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brunswick.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brunswick covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brunswick, with the one closest to Brunswick listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Brunswick had a population of 4,500 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Brunswick had a population of 20,619 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Brunswick, with the one closest to Brunswick listed first.

  • Topsham
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Topsham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsham
    • Topsham is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,942 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topsham <2>
  • Cathance
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cathance have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cathance
    • Cathance is located in Sagadahoc County
  • Hillside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillside have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
    • Hillside is located in Cumberland County
  • Harding
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • South Durham
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Durham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Durham
    • South Durham is located in Androscoggin County
  • North Harpswell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Harpswell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Harpswell
    • North Harpswell is located in Cumberland County
  • East Harpswell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Freeport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Harpswell Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Winnegance
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnegance have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnegance
    • Winnegance is located in Sagadahoc County
  • Bath
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • North Bath
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bath
    • North Bath is located in Sagadahoc County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brunswick. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brunswick.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brunswick ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brunswick.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brunswick. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brunswick and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brunswick.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6> of Brunswick.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Brunswick:

The official website for Brunswick: www.brunswickme.org/

The official website for Cumberland County: www.cumberlandcounty.org/

The official website for State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Brunswick, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brunswick) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brunswick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9146, Longitude: -69.9649    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025