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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 Houlton (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 Houlton. 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.

Houlton is located in Aroostook County and is the County Seat.

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 Aroostook County: Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset & Washington.

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

  • Aroostook County     (The home county of Houlton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houlton, with the one closest to Houlton listed first.
    • Hodgdon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • New Limerick
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Littleton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Littleton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
      • Littleton is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 982 people
    • Linneus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hammond
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hammond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Hammond is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
    • Cary
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Cary is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
      • Cary has also been known as:
      • Cary Plantation
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cary
      • From Houlton to Cary
    • Ludlow
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ludlow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
      • Ludlow is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
    • Monticello
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Smyrna
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smyrna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
      • Smyrna is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 419 people
    • Amity
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amity have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity
      • Amity is located in Aroostook County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
    • Oakfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Smyrna Mills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Penobscot County

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

Cemeteries Near Houlton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Houlton.

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

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

  • Old St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary of the Visitation RC Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • New St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Soldiers Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Soldiers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Soldiers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Watson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Perry Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Perry Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Perry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hodgdon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hodgdon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hodgdon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Corner Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Littleton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Littleton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Littleton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ludlow Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ludlow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ludlow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (104 more) ...

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 Houlton had a population of 3,800 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Houlton had a population of 5,766 people.

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

  • New Limerick
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hodgdon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Littleton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Littleton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
    • Littleton is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 982 people
  • Linneus
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Monticello
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • North Amity
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Amity have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Amity
    • North Amity is located in Aroostook County
  • Smyrna
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smyrna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
    • Smyrna is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 419 people
  • Amity
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amity have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity
    • Amity is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
  • Smyrna Mills
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Oakfield
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Dyer Brook
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Bridgewater
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgewater
    • Bridgewater is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 560 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgewater <1>
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Houlton ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Houlton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Houlton:

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

The official website for Aroostook County: www.aroostook.me.us/

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Houlton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025