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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 Mount Desert (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 Mount Desert. 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.

Name Variations for Mount Desert ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Mount Desert: Mt. Desert

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Mount Desert is located in Hancock 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 Hancock County: Penobscot, Waldo & Washington.

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

  • Hancock County     (The home county of Mount Desert)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Desert, with the one closest to Mount Desert listed first.
    • Indian Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Indian Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
      • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
    • Southwest Harbor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southwest Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Harbor
      • Southwest Harbor is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,793 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Southwest Harbor <3>
    • Northeast Harbor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Manset
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manset have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manset
      • Manset is located in Hancock County
    • Seal Harbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seal Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seal Harbor
      • Seal Harbor is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seal Harbor <3>
    • Seal Cove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Tremont
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
      • Tremont is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
    • Hulls Cove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bass Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bass Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass Harbor
      • Bass Harbor is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bass Harbor <3>
    • Bernard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cranberry Isles
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
      • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
    • Islesford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islesford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesford
      • Islesford is located in Hancock County
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Desert, with the one closest to Mount Desert listed first.
    • Isle Au Haut
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle Au Haut have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle Au Haut
      • Isle Au Haut is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Isle Au Haut <3>
    • North Haven
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Haven
      • North Haven is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Haven <3>
    • Pulpit Harbor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulpit Harbor
      • Pulpit Harbor is located in Knox County
  • Waldo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Desert, with the one closest to Mount Desert listed first.
    • Sandy Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Point
      • Sandy Point is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandy Point <3>
    • Prospect Ferry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Ferry
      • Prospect Ferry is located in Waldo County
    • Islesboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islesboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesboro
      • Islesboro is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • North Islesboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Islesboro
      • North Islesboro is located in Waldo County
    • Stockton Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stockton Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton Springs
      • Stockton Springs is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,640 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockton Springs <3>
    • Prospect
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Searsport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Desert, with the one closest to Mount Desert listed first.
    • Steuben
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steuben have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steuben
      • Steuben is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,148 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steuben <3>
    • East Steuben
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Steuben. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Steuben
      • East Steuben is located in Washington County
    • Milbridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cherryfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherryfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherryfield
      • Cherryfield is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,167 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherryfield <3>

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

Cemeteries Near Mount Desert ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mount Desert.

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

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

  • Brookside Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brookside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brookside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hodgdon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • 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.
  • Kimball Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kimball Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kimball Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Higgins Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Higgins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Higgins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pretty Marsh Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pretty Marsh Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pretty Marsh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Center Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Langley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Langley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Langley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Robbins Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robbins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robbins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Flye Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flye Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flye Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Height Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Height Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Height Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (147 more) ...
    • Seal Harbor Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mountain View Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Murphy Hill Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murphy Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murphy Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Mount Desert had a population of 680 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Mount Desert had a population of 2,114 people.

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

  • Southwest Harbor
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southwest Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Harbor
    • Southwest Harbor is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,793 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Southwest Harbor <3>
  • Northeast Harbor
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Asticou
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Asticou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asticou
    • Asticou is located in Hancock County
  • Indian Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Indian Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
    • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
  • Pretty Marsh
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pretty Marsh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Marsh
    • Pretty Marsh is located in Hancock County
  • Seal Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Seal Harbor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seal Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seal Harbor
    • Seal Harbor is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seal Harbor <3>
  • West Tremont
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Tremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tremont
    • West Tremont is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Tremont <3>
  • Tremont
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
    • Tremont is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
  • Seawall
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seawall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seawall
    • Seawall is located in Hancock County
  • Cranberry Isles
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
    • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Otter Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Hulls Cove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Eden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Hancock County
    • Trenton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trenton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
      • Trenton is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,568 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenton <3>

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

Newspapers Published in Mount Desert ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mount Desert.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mount Desert, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mount Desert.

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 helpful 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 Mount Desert:

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

The official website for Hancock County: www.co.hancock.me.us/

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>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Mount Desert, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mount Desert) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mount Desert. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3331, Longitude: -68.3278       In this case, the coordinates for Mount Desert have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025