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 Wells Beach (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 Wells Beach. 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 Wells Beach ...
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 occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Wells Beach: Wells Bch.
- While the name of this community is Wells Beach, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wells Beach may originally have been Well's Beach.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wells Beach might be written as Well Beach.
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.
Wells Beach is located in York 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 York County: Cumberland, Oxford, Carroll (NH), Rockingham (NH) & Strafford (NH).
Below are the counties that are near Wells Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wells Beach:
- York County (The home county of Wells Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- Wells
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Charles Chase Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Elms
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Elms is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elms
- Moody
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Moody is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
- Ogunquit
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Kennebunk
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wells Branch
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wells Branch is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Branch
- Kennebunk Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Kennebunk Landing is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennebunk Landing
- Lower Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Lower Village is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
- Kennebunkport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kennebunkport is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennebunkport
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,672 people
- Arundel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Town House Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Town House Corners is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town House Corners
- Agamenticus Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Agamenticus Village is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agamenticus Village
- Cumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- Grand Beach
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Beach is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Beach
- Prouts Neck
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Scarborough
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Scarborough is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Scarborough
- Danish Village ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Danish Village is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danish Village
- Scarborough
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Scarborough
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- North Scarborough is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scarborough
- Cape Elizabeth
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lone Creek Village ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lone Creek Village is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Creek Village
- Gorham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Cash Corner
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cash Corner is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Corner
- Pleasantdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasantdale is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantdale
- South Portland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stroudwater
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stroudwater is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stroudwater
- Carroll County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- Brookfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Brookfield is located in Carroll County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 688 people
- East Wakefield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wakefield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Woodman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Woodman is located in Carroll County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodman
- Rockingham County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- New Castle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Newington Station
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Newington Station is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newington Station
- Portsmouth
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Seacrest Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Seacrest Village is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seacrest Village
- Newington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Greenland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rye
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rye is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,478 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rye <2>
- Newmarket
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Stratham Station
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Stratham Station is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratham Station
- West Rye
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- West Rye is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rye
- Rye Beach
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Newfields
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Hampton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Strafford County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- Rollinsford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Somersworth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Somersworth is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somersworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,286 people
- Former names for Somersworth:
- Great Falls
- Summersworth
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Somersworth <2>
- Dover
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Dover is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32,443 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <2>
- East Rochester
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- East Rochester is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rochester
- Pickering
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Pickering is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickering
- Madbury
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Madbury is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,879 people
- Rochester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Durham
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durham is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,441 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durham <2>
- North Rochester
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- North Rochester is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Rochester
- East Barrington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- East Barrington is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Barrington
- Milton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Milton is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,614 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <2>
- Place
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Place is located in Strafford County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Place
- Barrington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wells Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Wells Beach.
Cemeteries Near Wells Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wells Beach.
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 Wells Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wells Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- Ocean View Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Clay Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jackson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Home Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mitchell - Hatch Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Littlefield Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Hope Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Arundel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Russell Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Hillside Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (204 more) ...
- Quaker Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- First Parish Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
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 in 1895, Wells Beach had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wells Beach, with the one closest to Wells Beach listed first.
- Wells
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Elms
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Elms is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elms
- Ogunquit
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Kennebunk Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kennebunk Beach is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennebunk Beach
- Wells Branch
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wells Branch is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Branch
- Kennebunk
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Kennebunkport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kennebunkport is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennebunkport
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,672 people
- Agamenticus Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Agamenticus Village is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agamenticus Village
- Arundel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Kennebunk
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- West Kennebunk is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Kennebunk
- Cape Porpoise
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cape Porpoise is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cape Porpoise
- North Berwick
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- York
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Long Beach
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Long Beach is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
- Cape Neddick
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cape Neddick is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cape Neddick
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wells Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wells Beach.
Newspapers Published in Wells Beach ...
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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wells Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wells Beach, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wells Beach.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Wells Beach:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to York County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cumberland County
- Carroll County
- Rockingham County
- Strafford County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Maine
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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Wells Beach, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wells Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |