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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Houghton (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 Houghton. 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 southeast 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 south.

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 south 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.

Houghton is located in Oxford County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Oxford County: Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, York, Carroll (NH) & Coos (NH).

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

  • Oxford County     (The home county of Houghton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houghton, with the one closest to Houghton listed first.
    • Byron
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Byron is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
    • Roxbury
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • East Andover
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • East Andover is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Andover
    • Andover
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • South Andover
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • South Andover is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Andover
    • Upper Dam
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Upper Dam is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Dam
    • Middle Dam
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Middle Dam is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Dam
    • Mexico
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Rumford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Magalloway Plantation
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Magalloway Plantation is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magalloway Plantation
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
    • Rumford Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • South Rumford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • South Rumford is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rumford
    • North Newry
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • North Newry is located in Oxford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Newry
  • Androscoggin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houghton, with the one closest to Houghton listed first.
    • Livermore Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • North Livermore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • North Livermore is located in Androscoggin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Livermore
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houghton, with the one closest to Houghton listed first.
    • Bemis
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bemis is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
    • Sandy River Plantation
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sandy River Plantation is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy River Plantation
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Madrid
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Weld
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Weld is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weld
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weld <1>
    • Rangeley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Berry Mills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Berry Mills is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Mills
    • Carthage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Carthage is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 536 people
    • Mountainview
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Mountainview is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainview
    • Phillips
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Oquossoc
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Perkin's Plantation ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Perkin's Plantation is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkin's Plantation
    • Dallas Plantation
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Dallas Plantation is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas Plantation
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
    • East Madrid
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • East Madrid is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Madrid
  • Somerset County
    • New Portland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Coos County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houghton, with the one closest to Houghton listed first.
    • Errol
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Errol is located in Coos County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errol
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Errol <1>
    • Second College Grant
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Second College Grant is located in Coos County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Second College Grant
    • Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dixs Grant
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Dixs Grant is located in Coos County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixs Grant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1 people
    • Milan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Milan is located in Coos County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,233 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <1>
    • Dummer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Houghton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Houghton.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Houghton - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Stockbridge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • West Byron Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Robertson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Andover Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Frye Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Pineview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Center Hill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Madrid Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Farmers Hill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Newman Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (104 more) ...
    • Glover Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Berry Mills Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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.<2>

While we didn't find Houghton in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Houghton.

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

  • Byron
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Byron is located in Oxford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
  • Roxbury
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Bemis
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bemis is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
  • Andover
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Frye
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Frye is located in Oxford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frye
  • Madrid
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • South Andover
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • South Andover is located in Oxford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Andover
  • Weld
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Weld is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weld
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weld <1>
  • Berry Mills
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Berry Mills is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Mills
  • Rangeley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Middle Dam
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Middle Dam is located in Oxford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Dam
  • Mexico
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Rumford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Phillips
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • East Madrid
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • East Madrid is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Madrid

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

Newspapers Published in Houghton ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Houghton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Houghton, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Houghton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Houghton:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 Houghton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Houghton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.