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 West Brooklin (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 West Brooklin. 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 West Brooklin ...
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 West Brooklin: W. Brooklin
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.
West Brooklin 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 West Brooklin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Brooklin:
- Hancock County (The home county of West Brooklin)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brooklin, with the one closest to West Brooklin listed first.
- Sedgwick
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- North Brooklin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Brooklin is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brooklin
- Brooklin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Haven
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Haven is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven
- Sargentville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sargentville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargentville
- Little Deer Isle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- South Blue Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- South Blue Hill is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Blue Hill
- Brooksville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mountainville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mountainville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainville
- Deer Isle
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Blue Hill Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Blue Hill Falls is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Hill Falls
- Oceanville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Oceanville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brooklin, with the one closest to West Brooklin listed first.
- Isle Au Haut
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Pulpit Harbor
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pulpit Harbor is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulpit Harbor
- North Haven
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Vinalhaven
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Camden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Lake City
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Lake City is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Rockport
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Glen Cove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Glen Cove is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
- Owls Head
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hope
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- West Rockport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Rockland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Penobscot County
- Goodale Corner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Goodale Corner is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodale Corner
- Waldo County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brooklin, with the one closest to West Brooklin listed first.
- Islesboro
(14 miles [22.5 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
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- North Islesboro is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Islesboro
- Northport
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Sandy Point
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Stockton Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Searsport
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- East Northport
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- East Northport is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Northport
- Lincolnville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Belfast
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Prospect Ferry
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Prospect Ferry is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Ferry
- Prospect
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bryants Corner
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bryants Corner is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryants Corner
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Brooklin, see our County-by-County Page for West Brooklin.
Cemeteries Near West Brooklin ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Brooklin.
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 West Brooklin - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Brooklin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Brooklin, with the one closest to West Brooklin listed first.
- Carters Point Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Rural Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Reach Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Brooklin Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mt. Ephraim Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Old Birchland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Home Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Freethy Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mt. Adams Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Long Island Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (214 more) ...
- Lakeview Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Grays Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Blastow's Cove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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>
While we didn't find West Brooklin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Brooklin.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Brooklin, with the one closest to West Brooklin listed first.
- Sedgwick
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Brooklin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- North Brooklin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Brooklin is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brooklin
- Sargentville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sargentville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargentville
- North Deer Isle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Deer Isle is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Deer Isle
- North Sedgwick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- North Sedgwick is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sedgwick
- Deer Isle
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- South Blue Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- South Blue Hill is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Blue Hill
- Brooksville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Blue Hill Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Blue Hill Falls is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Hill Falls
- South Brooksville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- South Brooksville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Brooksville
- Sunset
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- South Deer Isle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- South Deer Isle is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Deer Isle
- Oceanville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Oceanville is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
- Blue Hill
(8 miles [12.9 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 West Brooklin. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Brooklin.
Newspapers Published in West Brooklin ...
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 West Brooklin.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Brooklin, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Brooklin.
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 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 West Brooklin:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to Hancock County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Knox County
- Penobscot County
- Waldo County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Maine
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 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Brooklin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 West Brooklin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |