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 Orrington Center (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 Orrington Center. 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 Orrington Center ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Orrington Center: Orrington Ctr. (or less commonly used: Orrington Cen., Orrington Cent. or Orrington Cntr.)
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Orrington Center is located in Penobscot 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 Penobscot County: Aroostook, Hancock, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Orrington Center. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orrington Center:
- Penobscot County (The home county of Orrington Center)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrington Center, with the one closest to Orrington Center listed first.
- Orrington
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hampden
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- North Orrington
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- North Orrington is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Orrington
- Goodale Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Goodale Corner is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodale Corner
- Bangor
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Brewer
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Holden
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hampden Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Hampden Center is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampden Center
- Eddington
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Hermon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Snow Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Snow Corner is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Corner
- East Bangor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- East Bangor is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bangor
- Hancock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrington Center, with the one closest to Orrington Center listed first.
- Dedham
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Bucksport Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Bucksport Center is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucksport Center
- Bucksport
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Orland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Verona Island
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Verona Island is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 555 people
- Former name for Verona Island:
- Verona
- East Orland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Ellsworth
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Ellsworth is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ellsworth
- North Penobscot
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Penobscot is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Penobscot
- Otis
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Otis is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
- West Penobscot
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- West Penobscot is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Penobscot
- Mariaville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Mariaville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariaville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 540 people
- Ellsworth
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrington Center, with the one closest to Orrington Center listed first.
- Detroit
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Houston Corner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Houston Corner is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Corner
- Dogtown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Dogtown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
- Palmyra
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Pittsfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Waldo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrington Center, with the one closest to Orrington Center listed first.
- North Winterport
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Winterport is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Winterport
- Winterport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Frankfort
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Prospect Ferry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Prospect Ferry is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Ferry
- Prospect
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Monroe
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Monroe is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 948 people
- Sandy Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Monroe Center
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Monroe Center is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe Center
- North Searsport
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Searsport is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Searsport
- Stockton Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Jackson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jackson is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 588 people
- Swanville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orrington Center, see our County-by-County Page for Orrington Center.
Cemeteries Near Orrington Center ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orrington Center.
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 Orrington Center - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orrington Center covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orrington Center, with the one closest to Orrington Center listed first.
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Village Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- North Orrington Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Locust Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Copeland Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Twining Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (260 more) ...
- Parker Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Woodland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the north of Brewer.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #90734 <2>
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, Orrington Center had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orrington Center, with the one closest to Orrington Center listed first.
- East Orrington
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- East Orrington is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orrington
- Orrington
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- South Orrington
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- South Orrington is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Orrington
- Goodale Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Goodale Corner is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodale Corner
- North Orrington
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- North Orrington is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Orrington
- Hampden
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- South Brewer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- South Brewer is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Brewer
- East Hampden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- East Hampden is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hampden
- North Winterport
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Winterport is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Winterport
- North Bucksport
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- North Bucksport is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bucksport
- East Bucksport
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- East Bucksport is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bucksport
- West Bangor
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- West Bangor is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bangor
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Holden
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Brewer
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Bangor
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orrington Center. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orrington Center.
Newspapers Published in Orrington Center ...
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 142 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orrington Center.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orrington Center, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orrington Center.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Orrington Center:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to Penobscot County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hancock County
- Somerset County
- Waldo County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Maine
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 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Orrington Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Orrington Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |