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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.

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 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 northwest 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 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.

Southwest Harbor is located in Hancock 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 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manset have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manset
      • Manset is located in Hancock County
    • Bass Harbor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bass Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass Harbor
      • Bass Harbor is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bass Harbor <1>
    • Tremont
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
      • Tremont is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
    • Mount Desert
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Desert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Desert
      • Mount Desert is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,114 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Desert <1>
    • Bernard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Seal Cove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seal Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seal Cove
      • Seal Cove is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seal Cove <1>
    • Islesford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islesford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesford
      • Islesford is located in Hancock County
    • Seal Harbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seal Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seal Harbor
      • Seal Harbor is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seal Harbor <1>
    • Cranberry Isles
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
      • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
      • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
      • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
    • Bar Harbor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle Au Haut have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle Au Haut
      • Isle Au Haut is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Isle Au Haut <1>
    • Pulpit Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulpit Harbor
      • Pulpit Harbor is located in Knox County
    • Vinalhaven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • North Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Haven
      • North Haven is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Haven <1>
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islesboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islesboro
      • Islesboro is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • North Islesboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Islesboro
      • North Islesboro is located in Waldo County
    • Sandy Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Point
      • Sandy Point is located in Waldo County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandy Point <1>
    • Stockton Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stockton Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton Springs
      • Stockton Springs is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,640 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stockton Springs <1>
    • Prospect Ferry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Ferry
      • Prospect Ferry is located in Waldo County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steuben have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steuben
      • Steuben is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,148 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steuben <1>
    • Milbridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Cherryfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherryfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherryfield
      • Cherryfield is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,167 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherryfield <1>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Southwest Harbor, see our County-by-County Page for 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]<3>. 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 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 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.

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 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Height Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Height Cemetery
  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
  • Bernard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bernard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bernard Cemetery
  • Kimball Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kimball Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kimball Cemetery
  • Pomroy Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pomroy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pomroy Cemetery
  • Hillrest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillrest Cemetery
  • Norwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwood Cemetery
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
  • Flye Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flye Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flye Cemetery
  • Murphy Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murphy Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murphy Hill Cemetery
  • Seal Harbor Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Hodgdon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hodgdon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hodgdon Cemetery
  • Continue List   (140 more) ...
    • Center Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Cemetery
    • Langley Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Langley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Langley Cemetery
    • Robbins Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robbins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robbins Cemetery

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>

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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tremont
    • Tremont is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,602 people
  • Seawall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seawall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seawall
    • Seawall is located in Hancock County
  • Asticou
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Asticou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asticou
    • Asticou is located in Hancock County
  • West Tremont
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Tremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tremont
    • West Tremont is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Tremont <1>
  • Mount Desert
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Desert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Desert
    • Mount Desert is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,114 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Desert <1>
  • Seal Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seal Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seal Cove
    • Seal Cove is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seal Cove <1>
  • Cranberry Isles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
    • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Seal Harbor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seal Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seal Harbor
    • Seal Harbor is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seal Harbor <1>
  • Pretty Marsh
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pretty Marsh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Marsh
    • Pretty Marsh is located in Hancock County
  • Otter Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Indian Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
    • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Atlantic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlantic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic
      • Atlantic is located in Hancock County
    • 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.

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

The official website for Hancock County: www.co.hancock.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>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 from Point A (ie- Southwest Harbor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Southwest Harbor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2798, Longitude: -68.3250       In this case, the coordinates for Southwest Harbor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024