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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 Chester (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 Chester. 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.

Chester is located in Penobscot 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 Penobscot County: Aroostook, Hancock, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo & Washington.

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

  • Penobscot County     (The home county of Chester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chester, with the one closest to Chester listed first.
    • Pea Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Ridge
      • Pea Ridge is located in Penobscot County
    • Lincoln
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,882 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <2>
    • Woodville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
      • Woodville is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 235 people
    • Winn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winn
      • Winn is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Lee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
      • Lee is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 870 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <2>
    • Mattawamkeag
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Enfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enfield
      • Enfield is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,531 people
    • Seboeis Plantation
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seboeis Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seboeis Plantation
      • Seboeis Plantation is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Howland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • West Enfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Enfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Enfield
      • West Enfield is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Enfield <2>
    • Burlington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burlington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burlington <2>
    • East Lowell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lowell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lowell
      • East Lowell is located in Penobscot County
    • Maxfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxfield
      • Maxfield is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • Aroostook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chester, with the one closest to Chester listed first.
    • Molunkus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molunkus
      • Molunkus is located in Aroostook County
    • Macwahoc Plantation
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macwahoc Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macwahoc Plantation
      • Macwahoc Plantation is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
    • Wytopitlock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wytopitlock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wytopitlock
      • Wytopitlock is located in Aroostook County
    • Benedicta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Reed Plantation
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reed Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Plantation
      • Reed Plantation is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
    • Bancroft
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
      • Bancroft is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
  • Piscataquis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chester, with the one closest to Chester listed first.
    • Medford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
      • Medford is located in Piscataquis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
    • Lake View Plantation
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake View Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View Plantation
      • Lake View Plantation is located in Piscataquis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Medford Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford Center
      • Medford Center is located in Piscataquis County
    • Adams
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
      • Adams is located in Piscataquis County
    • Milo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo
      • Milo is located in Piscataquis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,314 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milo <2>
    • Brownville Junction
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownville Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownville Junction
      • Brownville Junction is located in Piscataquis County
    • Brownville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownville
      • Brownville is located in Piscataquis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownville <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Chester ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chester, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chester.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Chester:

Cemeteries Near Chester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chester.

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 Chester covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Lincoln Center Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Center Cemetery
  • Middle Chester Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Middle Chester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Middle Chester Cemetery
  • Snow Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Snow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Snow Cemetery
  • South Winn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Winn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Winn Cemetery
  • Transalpine Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Transalpine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Transalpine Cemetery
  • Half Twp. Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Half Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Half Twp. Cemetery
  • North Chester Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Chester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Chester Cemetery
  • East Winn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Winn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Winn Cemetery
  • Ridge Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ridge Cemetery
  • Long Ridge Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Ridge Cemetery
  • Academy Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Academy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Academy Cemetery
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
  • Continue List   (42 more) ...
    • West End Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West End Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West End Cemetery
    • Page Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Page Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Page Cemetery
    • Fiske Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fiske Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fiske Cemetery

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Chester had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Chester had a population of 523 people.

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

  • Lincoln Center
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Center
    • Lincoln Center is located in Penobscot County
  • North Lincoln
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Lincoln have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lincoln
    • North Lincoln is located in Penobscot County
  • Lincoln
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Lincoln is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,882 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <2>
  • South Lincoln
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Lincoln have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lincoln
    • South Lincoln is located in Penobscot County
  • Winn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winn
    • Winn is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
  • Woodville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
    • Woodville is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 235 people
  • East Winn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Winn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Winn
    • East Winn is located in Penobscot County
  • Seboeis
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seboeis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seboeis
    • Seboeis is located in Penobscot County
  • Lee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
    • Lee is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 870 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <2>
  • Mattawamkeag
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Enfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enfield
    • Enfield is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,531 people
  • Howland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Maxfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxfield
      • Maxfield is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • East Lowell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lowell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lowell
      • East Lowell is located in Penobscot County
    • Burlington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burlington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burlington <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Chester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Chester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4064, Longitude: -68.5026       In this case, the coordinates for Chester have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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 Chester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024