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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 Costigan (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 Costigan. 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 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.

Costigan 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 Costigan. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Costigan:

  • Penobscot County     (The home county of Costigan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Costigan, with the one closest to Costigan listed first.
    • Greenbush
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenbush have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
      • Greenbush is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,519 people
    • Milford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Alton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
      • Alton is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alton <2>
    • Old Town
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,404 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Town <2>
    • Bradley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Olamon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olamon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olamon
      • Olamon is located in Penobscot County
    • Stillwater
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stillwater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stillwater
      • Stillwater is located in Penobscot County
    • West Old Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Greenfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Webster
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Webster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
      • Webster is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Webster
      • From Costigan to Webster
    • Old Town Landing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town Landing
      • Old Town Landing is located in Penobscot County
    • Orono
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orono have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orono
      • Orono is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,636 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orono <2>
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Costigan, with the one closest to Costigan listed first.
    • Great Pond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Pond
      • Great Pond is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Amherst
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Aurora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <2>
    • Dedham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dedham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dedham
      • Dedham is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,666 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dedham <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dedham
      • From Costigan to Dedham
    • Mariaville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mariaville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariaville
      • Mariaville is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 540 people
    • Otis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis
      • Otis is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
    • Osborn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osborn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osborn
      • Osborn is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Waltham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waltham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltham
      • Waltham is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 340 people
    • Bucksport Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • North Ellsworth
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Ellsworth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ellsworth
      • North Ellsworth is located in Hancock County
    • Eastbrook
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastbrook
      • Eastbrook is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eastbrook <2>
    • East Orland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Orland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orland
      • East Orland is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Orland <2>
  • Piscataquis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Costigan, with the one closest to Costigan listed first.
    • Boyd Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Boyd Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd Lake
      • Boyd Lake is located in Piscataquis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Boyd Lake
      • From Costigan to Boyd Lake
    • Medford Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Medford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Atkinson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atkinson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
      • Atkinson is located in Piscataquis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
    • Atkinson Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Milo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Adams
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • South Dover
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Dover. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dover
      • South Dover is located in Piscataquis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to South Dover
      • From Costigan to South Dover
    • Brownville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>
    • Lake View Plantation
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
    • Dover South Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Sebec
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebec have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebec
      • Sebec is located in Piscataquis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 597 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebec <2>
  • Waldo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Costigan, with the one closest to Costigan listed first.
    • North Winterport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Winterport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winterport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterport
      • Winterport is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,028 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winterport <2>
    • Frankfort
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frankfort have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
      • Frankfort is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,196 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frankfort <2>
  • Washington County
    • Beddington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beddington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beddington
      • Beddington is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beddington <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Costigan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Costigan.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Costigan, with the one closest to Costigan 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 in 1895, Costigan had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Pea Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pea Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Cove
    • Pea Cove is located in Penobscot County
  • Argyle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Argyle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Argyle is located in Penobscot County
  • Cardville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cardville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardville
    • Cardville is located in Penobscot County
  • Milford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Greenbush
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenbush have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
    • Greenbush is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,519 people
  • Alton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Alton is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alton <2>
  • Old Town
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Old Town is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,404 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Town <2>
  • Great Works
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Works have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Works
    • Great Works is located in Penobscot County
  • Bradley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • West Old Town
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Olamon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olamon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olamon
    • Olamon is located in Penobscot County
  • Webster
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Webster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
    • Webster is located in Penobscot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Webster
    • From Costigan to Webster
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Greenfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Orono
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orono have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orono
      • Orono is located in Penobscot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,636 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orono <2>
    • Basin Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Basin Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basin Mills
      • Basin Mills is located in Penobscot County

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

Newspapers Published in Costigan ...

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 108 newspapers that have been published in the area around Costigan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Costigan, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Costigan.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Costigan:

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>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.
<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 Costigan, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Costigan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Costigan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.0129, Longitude: -68.6399       In this case, the coordinates for Costigan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).