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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 Salem (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 Salem. 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 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.

Salem is located in Franklin 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 Franklin County: Androscoggin, Kennebec, Oxford & Somerset.

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

  • Franklin County     (The home county of Salem)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • East Madrid
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Madrid. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Madrid
      • East Madrid is located in Franklin County
    • Avon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Avon is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
    • Phillips
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingfield
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Strong
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • South Strong
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Strong. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Strong
      • South Strong is located in Franklin County
    • Madrid
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • New Vineyard
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Vineyard
      • New Vineyard is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 777 people
    • Carrabassett Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carrabassett Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrabassett Valley
      • Carrabassett Valley is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carrabassett Valley <3>
    • Bigelow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Bigelow is located in Franklin County
    • Sandy River Plantation
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy River Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy River Plantation
      • Sandy River Plantation is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Fairbanks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbanks
      • Fairbanks is located in Franklin County
  • Androscoggin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Livermore Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Shy Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shy Corner
      • Shy Corner is located in Androscoggin County
  • Kennebec County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Rome
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
      • Rome is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rome <3>
    • Vienna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Oxford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Byron
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
      • Byron is located in Oxford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
    • Roxbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dixfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Mexico
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mexico have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
      • Mexico is located in Oxford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,635 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mexico <3>
    • Peru
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peru. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
      • Peru is located in Oxford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,509 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peru <3>
    • West Peru
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Peru
      • West Peru is located in Oxford County
    • Rumford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • South Rumford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Rumford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rumford
      • South Rumford is located in Oxford County
    • Upper Dam
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Dam
      • Upper Dam is located in Oxford County
    • Canton Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Canton Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton Point
      • Canton Point is located in Oxford County
    • Andover
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Andover is located in Oxford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andover <3>
    • East Andover
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Andover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Andover
      • East Andover is located in Oxford County
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • New Portland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • East New Portland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East New Portland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East New Portland
      • East New Portland is located in Somerset County
    • Highland Plantation
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Plantation
      • Highland Plantation is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
    • North Anson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Anson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Anson
      • North Anson is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Anson <3>
    • Starks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Starks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks
      • Starks is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
    • Anson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anson
      • Anson is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,397 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anson <3>
    • Embden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Embden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embden
      • Embden is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 956 people
    • Madison
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
      • Madison is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,696 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Madison <3>
    • Solon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solon
      • Solon is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Solon <3>
    • Pleasant Ridge Plantation
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Ridge Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge Plantation
      • Pleasant Ridge Plantation is located in Somerset County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Barron Corner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barron Corner
      • Barron Corner is located in Somerset County
    • Bingham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Salem ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Salem.

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

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

  • Avon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Avon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Avon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Phillips - Maine Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Phillips - Maine Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Phillips - Maine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Strong Town Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Strong Town Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Strong Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Madrid Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madrid Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madrid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Staples Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Staples Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Staples Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hardy Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hardy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hardy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Intervale Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Intervale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Intervale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gay Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Center Hill Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mitchell Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mitchell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mitchell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (107 more) ...
    • Smith Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Holley Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Village Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Village Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Village 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Salem had a population of 126 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • East Madrid
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Madrid. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Madrid
    • East Madrid is located in Franklin County
  • Phillips
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Strong
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Kingfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • New Portland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Madrid
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • South Strong
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Strong. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Strong
    • South Strong is located in Franklin County
  • New Vineyard
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Vineyard
    • New Vineyard is located in Franklin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 777 people
  • East New Portland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East New Portland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East New Portland
    • East New Portland is located in Somerset County
  • North New Portland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North New Portland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North New Portland
    • North New Portland is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North New Portland <3>
  • Lexington
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lexington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
    • Lexington is located in Somerset County
  • Fairbanks
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbanks
    • Fairbanks is located in Franklin County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Weld
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weld
      • Weld is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weld <3>
    • Allens Mills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allens Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Mills
      • Allens Mills is located in Franklin County
    • Dead River ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dead River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dead River
      • Dead River is located in Franklin County

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

Newspapers Published in Salem ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Salem.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Salem, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Salem.

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 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 Salem:

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

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>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 Salem, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Salem) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Salem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9006, Longitude: -70.2781       In this case, the coordinates for Salem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025