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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 Southwest Harbor (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 Southwest Harbor. 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 Southwest Harbor ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Southwest Harbor: Southwest Hbr. (or less commonly used: Southwest Harb. or Southwest Hrbr.)

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 doctors and 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.

Southwest Harbor 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 Southwest Harbor. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Southwest Harbor:

  • Hancock County     (The home county of Southwest Harbor)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwest Harbor, with the one closest to Southwest Harbor listed first.
    • Northeast Harbor
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Manset
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Manset is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manset
    • Bass Harbor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Tremont
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Tremont is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
    • Mount Desert
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bernard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Seal Cove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Islesford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Islesford is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesford
    • Seal Harbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cranberry Isles
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
    • Otter Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
    • Atlantic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Atlantic is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwest Harbor, with the one closest to Southwest Harbor listed first.
    • Isle Au Haut
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pulpit Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Pulpit Harbor is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulpit Harbor
    • Vinalhaven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • North Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Waldo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwest Harbor, with the one closest to Southwest Harbor listed first.
    • Islesboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Islesboro is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • North Islesboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • North Islesboro is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Islesboro
    • Sandy Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Stockton Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Prospect Ferry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Prospect Ferry is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Ferry
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwest Harbor, with the one closest to Southwest Harbor listed first.
    • Steuben
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • East Steuben
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • East Steuben is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Steuben
    • Milbridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Cherryfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Southwest Harbor ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Southwest Harbor.

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 Southwest Harbor - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Mt. Height Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Bernard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Kimball Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • The Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the west of Tremont.
    • The Tinker - Pomroy Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pomroy Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #90411 <3>
  • Hillrest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Norwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Flye Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Murphy Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Seal Harbor Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Hodgdon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (142 more) ...
    • Center Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Langley Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Robbins Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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 Southwest Harbor had a population of 720 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Southwest Harbor had a population of 1,793 people.

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

  • Northeast Harbor
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Tremont
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Tremont is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
  • Seawall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Seawall is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seawall
  • Asticou
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Asticou is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asticou
  • West Tremont
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Mount Desert
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Seal Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Cranberry Isles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Seal Harbor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Pretty Marsh
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pretty Marsh is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Marsh
  • Otter Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Indian Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Atlantic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Atlantic is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic
    • Bar Harbor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hulls Cove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Southwest Harbor ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Southwest Harbor.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Southwest Harbor, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Southwest Harbor.

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 Southwest Harbor:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Southwest Harbor) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Southwest Harbor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.