RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> Oxford County >> Porter >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Maine

The Commemorative Quarter for Maine





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 Porter (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 Porter. 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 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.

Porter is located in Oxford 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 Oxford County: Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, York, Carroll (NH) & Coos (NH).

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

  • Oxford County     (The home county of Porter)
  • Androscoggin County
    • West Poland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Poland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Poland
      • West Poland is located in Androscoggin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Poland <1>
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Porter, with the one closest to Porter listed first.
    • West Baldwin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Baldwin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Baldwin
      • West Baldwin is located in Cumberland County
    • Baldwin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baldwin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin
      • Baldwin is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,641 people
    • Steep Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steep Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steep Falls
      • Steep Falls is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steep Falls <1>
    • Sebago
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebago have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebago
      • Sebago is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,844 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebago <1>
    • South Bridgton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Standish
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standish have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
      • Standish is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Standish <1>
    • West Bridgton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Sandy Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandy Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Creek
      • Sandy Creek is located in Cumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sandy Creek
      • From Porter to Sandy Creek
    • Frye Island
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frye Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frye Island
      • Frye Island is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
    • Sebago Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sebago Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebago Lake
      • Sebago Lake is located in Cumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sebago Lake
      • From Porter to Sebago Lake
    • Bridgton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgton
      • Bridgton is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,509 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgton <1>
    • Naples
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • York County
  • Belknap County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Porter, with the one closest to Porter listed first.
    • Samoset
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring Haven
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spring Haven. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Haven
      • Spring Haven is located in Belknap County (NH)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Spring Haven
      • From Porter to Spring Haven
    • West Alton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Center Harbor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Harbor
      • Center Harbor is located in Belknap County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,097 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Harbor <1>
    • Alton Bay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Glendale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gilford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilford
      • Gilford is located in Belknap County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilford <1>
    • Interlaken Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Meredith
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
      • Meredith is located in Belknap County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meredith <1>
  • Carroll County (NH)
  • Coos County (NH)
    • Hadleys Purchase
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hadleys Purchase have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadleys Purchase
      • Hadleys Purchase is located in Coos County (NH)
  • Grafton County (NH)
    • Waterville Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterville Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterville Valley
      • Waterville Valley is located in Grafton County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterville Valley <1>
  • Strafford County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Porter, with the one closest to Porter listed first.
    • Middleton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Middleton is located in Strafford County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,832 people
    • Milton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • New Durham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Davis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
      • Davis is located in Strafford County (NH)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Davis
      • From Porter to Davis
    • Farmington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • North Rochester
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Place
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Place. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Place
      • Place is located in Strafford County (NH)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Place
      • From Porter to Place

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

Cemeteries Near Porter ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Porter.

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

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

  • Libby Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Libby Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Libby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • French Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the French Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the French Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Churchill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Merrill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Merrill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Merrill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kezar Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kezar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kezar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kezar Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kezar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kezar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trueworthy Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trueworthy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trueworthy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Leavitt Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leavitt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leavitt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sweat Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sweat Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sweat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Road Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Collomy Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Collomy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Collomy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edgecomb Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edgecomb Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edgecomb Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (312 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Porter had a population of 175 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Porter had a population of 1,525 people.

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

  • North Parsonsfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Kezar Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • South Hiram
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Hiram have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hiram
    • South Hiram is located in Oxford County
  • East Freedom
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Freedom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Freedom
    • East Freedom is located in Carroll County (NH)
  • Effingham
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Parsonsfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parsonsfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsonsfield
    • Parsonsfield is located in York County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,971 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parsonsfield <1>
  • Center Effingham
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Effingham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Effingham
    • Center Effingham is located in Carroll County (NH)
  • Freedom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • East Parsonsfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cornish
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Effingham Falls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Effingham Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Effingham Falls
    • Effingham Falls is located in Carroll County (NH)
  • South Effingham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • South Parsonsfield
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Parsonsfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Parsonsfield
      • South Parsonsfield is located in York County
    • West Brownfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Brownfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brownfield
      • West Brownfield is located in Oxford County
    • Maplewood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maplewood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
      • Maplewood is located in York County

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

Newspapers Published in Porter ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Porter.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Porter, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Porter.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Porter:

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

The official website for Oxford County: www.oxfordcounty.org/

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Porter, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Porter) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Porter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7960, Longitude: -70.9326    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025