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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Sorrento (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 Sorrento. 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 and doctors 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.

Sorrento is located in Hancock 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 Hancock County: Penobscot, Waldo & Washington.

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

  • Hancock County     (The home county of Sorrento)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sorrento, with the one closest to Sorrento listed first.
    • East Sullivan
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sullivan
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • West Gouldsboro
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • West Gouldsboro is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Gouldsboro
    • South Hancock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • South Hancock is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hancock
    • West Sullivan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • West Sullivan is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sullivan
    • South Gouldsboro
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • South Gouldsboro is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gouldsboro
    • Hancock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hulls Cove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gouldsboro
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bar Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Salsbury Cove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Salsbury Cove is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salsbury Cove
    • East Lamoine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • East Lamoine is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lamoine
    • Lamoine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Penobscot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sorrento, with the one closest to Sorrento listed first.
    • Clifton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Clifton is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 901 people
    • East Eddington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • East Eddington is located in Penobscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Eddington
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sorrento, with the one closest to Sorrento listed first.
    • Steuben
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • East Steuben
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • East Steuben is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Steuben
    • Milbridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Cherryfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Deblois
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Deblois is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deblois
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Harrington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Addison
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Columbia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Columbia is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
    • Epping
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Epping is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epping
    • Columbia Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Beddington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Beals
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Beals is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beals
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beals <1>
    • Jonesport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Sorrento ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sorrento.

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 Sorrento - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sorrento covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Bragdon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Hall Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Dyer Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Doyle Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Sumner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • York Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Salter Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Birch Tree Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Salisbury Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (139 more) ...
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hillcrest Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Gordon Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sorrento had a population of 48 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Sorrento had a population of 267 people.

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

  • Ashville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Ashville is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashville
  • East Sullivan
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Hancock Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hancock Point is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock Point
  • Sullivan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • South Gouldsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • South Gouldsboro is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gouldsboro
  • West Gouldsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • West Gouldsboro is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Gouldsboro
  • West Sullivan
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • West Sullivan is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sullivan
  • South Hancock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • South Hancock is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hancock
  • Marlboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Marlboro is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro
  • Lamoine Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Lamoine Beach is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamoine Beach
  • Hulls Cove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hancock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Bar Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Gouldsboro
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lamoine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Sorrento ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sorrento.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sorrento, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sorrento.

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 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 Sorrento:

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>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 Sorrento, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sorrento) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.