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 Shepherds Hill (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 Shepherds Hill. 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 Shepherds Hill ...
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 occur.
While the name of this community is Shepherds Hill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Shepherds Hill may originally have been Shepherd's Hill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Shepherds Hill might be written as Shepherd Hill.
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 hospitals 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.
Shepherds Hill is located in York 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 York County: Cumberland, Oxford, Carroll (NH), Rockingham (NH) & Strafford (NH).
Below are the counties that are near Shepherds Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Shepherds Hill:
- York County (The home county of Shepherds Hill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds Hill, with the one closest to Shepherds Hill listed first.
- Kittery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Admiralty Village
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Admiralty Village is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Admiralty Village
- Kittery Point
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- South Eliot
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- South Eliot is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eliot
- Bedell Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bedell Crossing is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedell Crossing
- Beech Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Beech Ridge is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Ridge
- Eliot
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Payneton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Payneton is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payneton
- York Harbor
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- York Harbor is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Harbor
- York Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- York Village is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Village
- Chases Pond
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Chases Pond is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chases Pond
- York
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rockingham County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds Hill, with the one closest to Shepherds Hill listed first.
- New Castle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Portsmouth
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Seacrest Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Seacrest Village is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seacrest Village
- Newington Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Newington Station is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newington Station
- Newington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Rye
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rye is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,478 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rye <2>
- Greenland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Rye
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- West Rye is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rye
- Rye Beach
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Stratham Station
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Stratham Station is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratham Station
- North Hampton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Newmarket
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Strafford County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds Hill, with the one closest to Shepherds Hill listed first.
- Dover
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dover is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32,443 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <2>
- Durham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Durham is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,441 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durham <2>
- Madbury
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Madbury is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,879 people
- Rollinsford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Somersworth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Somersworth is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somersworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,286 people
- Former names for Somersworth:
- Great Falls
- Summersworth
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Somersworth <2>
- Glenmere Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Glenmere Village is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenmere Village
- Lee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Lee is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,597 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <2>
- East Barrington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- East Barrington is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Barrington
- Pickering
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pickering is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickering
- Barrington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rochester
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- East Rochester
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- East Rochester is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rochester
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Shepherds Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Shepherds Hill.
Cemeteries Near Shepherds Hill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shepherds Hill.
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 Shepherds Hill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Shepherds Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shepherds Hill, with the one closest to Shepherds Hill listed first.
- Highland Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Orchard Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- North Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Union Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- St. Johns Churchyard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Point of Grave Burial Ground
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Riverside Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Old Burying Yard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Fernald Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Dennett Family Burial Ground
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- South Street Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (218 more) ...
- Hamscom Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find Shepherds Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Shepherds Hill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Shepherds Hill, with the one closest to Shepherds Hill listed first.
- Kittery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Kittery Point
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Portsmouth
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- New Castle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- South Eliot
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- South Eliot is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eliot
- Bedell Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bedell Crossing is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedell Crossing
- Seabury
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Seabury is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seabury
- Newington Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Newington Station is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newington Station
- Newington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Greenland Station
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Greenland Station is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland Station
- York Harbor
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- York Harbor is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Harbor
- York Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- York Village is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Village
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- York Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- York Corner is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Corner
- Greenland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rye
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rye is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,478 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rye <2>
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Shepherds Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shepherds Hill.
Newspapers Published in Shepherds Hill ...
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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shepherds Hill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shepherds Hill, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shepherds Hill.
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 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 Shepherds Hill:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to York County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Rockingham County
- Strafford County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Maine
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Shepherds Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Shepherds Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |