RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> York County >> Sanford >> 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 Sanford (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 Sanford. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Sanford is located in York 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 York County: Cumberland, Oxford, Carroll (NH), Rockingham (NH) & Strafford (NH).

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

  • York County     (The home county of Sanford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sanford, with the one closest to Sanford listed first.
    • Springvale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • South Sanford
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sanford
      • South Sanford is located in York County
    • Alfred
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lebanon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
      • Lebanon is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,435 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lebanon <1>
    • Lyman
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyman
      • Lyman is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,536 people
    • Waterboro
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterboro
      • Waterboro is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,007 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterboro <1>
    • Shapleigh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shapleigh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shapleigh
      • Shapleigh is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,769 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shapleigh <1>
    • Days Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Days Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Days Mill
      • Days Mill is located in York County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Days Mill
      • From Sanford to Days Mill
    • West Kennebunk
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Kennebunk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Kennebunk
      • West Kennebunk is located in York County
    • Acton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Acton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
      • Acton is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,636 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acton <1>
    • North Berwick
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Wells Branch
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • East Waterboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Waterboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Waterboro
      • East Waterboro is located in York County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Waterboro <1>
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sanford, with the one closest to Sanford listed first.
    • West Scarborough
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Beach
      • Grand Beach is located in Cumberland County
    • Prouts Neck
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Danish Village ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Danish Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danish Village
      • Danish Village is located in Cumberland County
    • Gorham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gorham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorham
      • Gorham is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,962 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gorham <1>
    • North Scarborough
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Standish
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standish have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>
    • Scarborough
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scarborough have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarborough
      • Scarborough is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,527 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scarborough <1>
    • Steep Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steep Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • 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 Sanford to Sebago Lake
    • Lone Creek Village ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Creek Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Creek Village
      • Lone Creek Village is located in Cumberland County
    • South Windham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Windham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Windham
      • South Windham is located in Cumberland County
    • Baldwin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baldwin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Oxford County
  • Belknap County (NH)
  • Carroll County (NH)
  • Merrimack County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sanford, with the one closest to Sanford listed first.
    • Pittsfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Websters Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Rockingham County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sanford, with the one closest to Sanford listed first.
    • Newington Station
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Newington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Seacrest Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seacrest Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seacrest Village
      • Seacrest Village is located in Rockingham County (NH)
    • New Castle
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Newmarket
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Portsmouth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Northwood Ridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Northwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Nottingham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
      • Greenland is located in Rockingham County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,114 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenland <1>
    • Newfields
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newfields have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newfields
      • Newfields is located in Rockingham County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,733 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newfields <1>
    • Rye
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rye. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
      • Rye is located in Rockingham County (NH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,478 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rye <1>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rye
      • From Sanford to Rye
    • Stratham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Strafford County (NH)

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

Cemeteries Near Sanford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sanford.

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

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sanford had a population of 2,000 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Sanford had a population of 21,253 people.

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

  • South Sanford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Sanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sanford
    • South Sanford is located in York County
  • Springvale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Alfred
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Lebanon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
    • Lebanon is located in York County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,435 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lebanon <1>
  • East Lebanon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lebanon
    • East Lebanon is located in York County
  • North Lebanon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lebanon
    • North Lebanon is located in York County
  • Center Lebanon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Lebanon
    • Center Lebanon is located in York County
  • Shapleigh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shapleigh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shapleigh
    • Shapleigh is located in York County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,769 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shapleigh <1>
  • Waterboro
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterboro
    • Waterboro is located in York County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,007 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterboro <1>
  • South Acton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Acton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Acton
    • South Acton is located in York County
  • West Lebanon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
    • West Lebanon is located in York County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Lebanon <1>
  • North Berwick
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Wells Branch
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • West Kennebunk
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Kennebunk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Kennebunk
      • West Kennebunk is located in York County
    • Acton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Acton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
      • Acton is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,636 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acton <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Sanford ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sanford.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Sanford. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Sanford and those printed in the larger area surrounding Sanford.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5> of Sanford.

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 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 Sanford:

The official website for Sanford: www.sanfordmaine.org/

The official website for York County: www.co.york.me.us/

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>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>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sanford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sanford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4404, Longitude: -70.7741    
<6>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 Sanford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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