RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> Cumberland County >> South Harpswell >> 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 South Harpswell (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 South Harpswell. 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 South Harpswell ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for South Harpswell: S. Harpswell

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

South Harpswell is located in Cumberland 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 Cumberland County: Androscoggin, Oxford, Sagadahoc & York.

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

  • Cumberland County     (The home county of South Harpswell)
  • Androscoggin County
  • Kennebec County
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Harpswell, with the one closest to South Harpswell listed first.
    • Mouse Island
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Southport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southport
      • Southport is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Southport <3>
    • West Boothbay Harbor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Boothbay Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Boothbay Harbor
      • West Boothbay Harbor is located in Lincoln County
    • Trevett
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trevett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trevett
      • Trevett is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trevett <3>
    • Boothbay Harbor
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Westport
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Boothbay
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bayville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayville
      • Bayville is located in Lincoln County
    • Linekin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • East Boothbay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Boothbay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Boothbay
      • East Boothbay is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Boothbay <3>
    • South Bristol
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bristol
      • South Bristol is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 878 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Bristol <3>
    • Edgecomb
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgecomb have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgecomb
      • Edgecomb is located in Lincoln County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,265 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edgecomb <3>
    • Hatchs Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Sagadahoc County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Harpswell, with the one closest to South Harpswell listed first.
    • Sebasco Estates
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebasco Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebasco Estates
      • Sebasco Estates is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sebasco Estates <3>
    • Small Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Small Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Small Point
      • Small Point is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Small Point <3>
    • Sabino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Popham Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Phippsburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phippsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phippsburg
      • Phippsburg is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,275 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Phippsburg <3>
    • West Bath
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bath
      • West Bath is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,932 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Bath <3>
    • Topsham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Topsham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsham
      • Topsham is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,942 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topsham <3>
    • Georgetown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Georgetown is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Georgetown <3>
    • Arrowsic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrowsic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowsic
      • Arrowsic is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arrowsic <3>
    • Pejepscot
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Bath
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • MacMahan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Woolwich
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woolwich have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolwich
      • Woolwich is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,218 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woolwich <3>
  • York County

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

Cemeteries Near South Harpswell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Harpswell.

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

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

  • Flying Point Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flying Point Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flying Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wolf Neck Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wolf Neck Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wolf Neck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Freeport Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Freeport Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Freeport Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Point Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Point Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barlett Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barlett Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barlett Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harris Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harris Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cranberryhorn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cranberryhorn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cranberryhorn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.
  • Ledge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ledge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ledge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lane Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (265 more) ...
    • Gilman & Bliston Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilman & Bliston Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilman & Bliston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Marine Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marine Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Maquoit Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)

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 South Harpswell had a population of 87 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Bailey Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bailey Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Island
    • Bailey Island is located in Cumberland County
  • West Harpswell
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Orrs Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Harpswell Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Chebeague Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chebeague Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chebeague Island
    • Chebeague Island is located in Cumberland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 350 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chebeague Island <3>
  • North Harpswell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Harpswell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Harpswell
    • North Harpswell is located in Cumberland County
  • Cousins Island
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cousins Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cousins Island
    • Cousins Island is located in Cumberland County
  • Cundys Harbor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • South Freeport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Freeport
    • South Freeport is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Freeport <3>
  • Long Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
    • Long Island is located in Cumberland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 239 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Island <3>
  • Small Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Small Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Small Point
    • Small Point is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Small Point <3>
  • East Harpswell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Cumberland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cumberland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
      • Cumberland is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,298 people
    • Ashdale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashdale
      • Ashdale is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Freeport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in South Harpswell ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Harpswell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Harpswell, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Harpswell.

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 helpful 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 South Harpswell:

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

The official website for Cumberland County: www.cumberlandcounty.org/

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 South Harpswell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- South Harpswell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in South Harpswell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7414, Longitude: -70.0159    









 

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