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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 Swans Island (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 Swans Island. 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 Swans Island ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Swans Island: Swans Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)
  • While the name of this community is Swans Island, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Swans Island may originally have been Swan's Island.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Swans Island might be written as Swan Island.

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.

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

  • Hancock County     (The home county of Swans Island)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swans Island, with the one closest to Swans Island listed first.
    • Minturn
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minturn
      • Minturn is located in Hancock County
    • Frenchboro
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchboro
      • Frenchboro is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frenchboro <3>
    • Bass Harbor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 <3>
    • Bernard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tremont
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Oceanville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
      • Oceanville is located in Hancock County
    • Mountainville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainville
      • Mountainville is located in Hancock County
    • Seal Cove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • 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 <3>
    • Manset
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Brooklin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Stonington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stonington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonington
      • Stonington is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stonington <3>
    • Southwest Harbor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southwest Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Harbor
      • Southwest Harbor is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,793 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Southwest Harbor <3>
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swans Island, with the one closest to Swans Island listed first.
    • Isle Au Haut
      (10 miles [16.1 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 <3>
    • North Haven
      (20 miles [32.2 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 <3>
    • Vinalhaven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Pulpit Harbor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulpit Harbor
      • Pulpit Harbor is located in Knox County
    • Matinicus Isle Plantation
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Matinicus Isle Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matinicus Isle Plantation
      • Matinicus Isle Plantation is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Matinicus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Criehaven
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Criehaven
      • Criehaven is located in Knox County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 1 people
    • Camden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
      • Camden is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Camden <3>
    • Owls Head
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Waldo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swans Island, with the one closest to Swans Island listed first.
    • Islesboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Islesboro
      • North Islesboro is located in Waldo County
    • Northport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northport
      • Northport is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,593 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northport <3>
    • Lincolnville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincolnville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
      • Lincolnville is located in Waldo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,252 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincolnville <3>
    • East Northport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Northport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Northport
      • East Northport is located in Waldo County

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

Newspapers Published in Swans Island ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swans Island.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swans Island, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swans Island.

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 Swans Island:

Cemeteries Near Swans Island ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swans Island.

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 Swans Island covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Freethy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Freethy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Freethy Cemetery
  • Bernard Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Norwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Hillrest Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Pomroy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Murphy Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Turners Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turners Cemetery
  • Union Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Mt. Height Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Flye Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Continue List   (125 more) ...
    • Robbins Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Brooklin Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Swans Island had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Swans Island had a population of 323 people.

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

  • Atlantic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Tremont
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • West Tremont
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • 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 <3>
  • Oceanville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
    • Oceanville is located in Hancock County
  • Seawall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Seal Cove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • 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 <3>
  • Brooklin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • South Deer Isle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Deer Isle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Deer Isle
    • South Deer Isle is located in Hancock County
  • Southwest Harbor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southwest Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Harbor
    • Southwest Harbor is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,793 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Southwest Harbor <3>
  • North Brooklin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Brooklin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brooklin
    • North Brooklin is located in Hancock County
  • Cranberry Isles
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
    • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Northeast Harbor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Deer Isle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Isle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Isle
      • Deer Isle is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,911 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Isle <3>
    • Asticou
      (13 miles [20.9 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
    • Pretty Marsh
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • 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

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swans Island. 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>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>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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Swans Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swans Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1451, Longitude: -68.4517       In this case, the coordinates for Swans Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Swans Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024