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 Portage Lake (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 Portage Lake. 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 Portage Lake ...

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 Portage Lake: Portage Lk.

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.

Portage Lake is located in Aroostook 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 Aroostook County: Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset & Washington.

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

• Aroostook County     (The home county of Portage Lake)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Portage Lake, with the one closest to Portage Lake listed first.
  • Portage
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
    • Portage is located in Aroostook County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portage <2>
  • Nashville Plantation
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville Plantation
    • Nashville Plantation is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Sheridan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheridan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
    • Sheridan is located in Aroostook County
  • Wade
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
    • Wade is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
  • Ashland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Ashland is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,214 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashland <2>
  • Garfield Plantation
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garfield Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield Plantation
    • Garfield Plantation is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
  • Winterville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winterville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterville
    • Winterville is located in Aroostook County
  • Quimby
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quimby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quimby
    • Quimby is located in Aroostook County
  • Perham
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Perham is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
  • Winterville Plantation
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winterville Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterville Plantation
    • Winterville Plantation is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
  • Castle Hill
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hill
    • Castle Hill is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
  • Washburn
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
    • Washburn is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,533 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Washburn <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Portage Lake ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Portage Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Portage Lake, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Portage Lake.

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 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 Portage Lake:

• Websites specific to Maine
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Maine State Archives

• Pages specific to Aroostook County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Maine
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Maine
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Maine
  • Cemeteries of Aroostook County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Maine
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Maine
  • Cemeteries of Aroostook County

Cemeteries Near Portage Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Portage Lake.

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

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

• Buffalo Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Cemetery
• Goodblood Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodblood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodblood Cemetery
• Sutherland Cemetery
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sutherland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sutherland Cemetery
• Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Cemetery
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Cemetery
• McCormack Cemetery
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCormack Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCormack Cemetery
• Ashland Sheridan Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ashland Sheridan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ashland Sheridan Cemetery
• Old St. Marks Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Marks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Marks Cemetery
• Frenchville Catholic Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Frenchville Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Frenchville Catholic Cemetery
• Alley Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alley Cemetery
• Dunn Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dunn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dunn Cemetery
• Ashland Municipal Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ashland Municipal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ashland Municipal Cemetery
• Walker Gardiner Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walker Gardiner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walker Gardiner Cemetery
• Continue List   (75 more) ...
  • York Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the York Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the York Cemetery
  • Holmes Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holmes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holmes Cemetery
  • Randell Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Randell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Randell Cemetery

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>

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

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

• Portage
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
  • Portage is located in Aroostook County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portage <2>
• Ashland
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
  • Ashland is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,214 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashland <2>
• Castle Hill
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hill
  • Castle Hill is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
• Perham
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
  • Perham is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <2>
• Washburn
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
  • Washburn is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,533 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Washburn <2>
• Eagle Lake
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
  • Eagle Lake is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 796 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Lake <2>
• Mapleton
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mapleton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
  • Mapleton is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,824 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mapleton <2>
• Masardis
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Masardis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masardis
  • Masardis is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
• New Sweden
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Sweden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
  • New Sweden is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 563 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Sweden <2>
• Jemtland
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jemtland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jemtland
  • Jemtland is located in Aroostook County
• Presque Isle
  (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Presque Isle
  • Presque Isle is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,950 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Presque Isle <2>
• Wallagrass
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallagrass have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallagrass
  • Wallagrass is located in Aroostook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
• Continue List   (9 more) ...
  • Caribou
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caribou have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caribou
    • Caribou is located in Aroostook County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,622 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caribou <2>
  • North Lyndon
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lyndon
    • North Lyndon is located in Aroostook County
  • Oxbow
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oxbow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxbow
    • Oxbow is located in Aroostook County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oxbow <2>

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Portage Lake. 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/