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 Charleston (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 Charleston. 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 Charleston ...
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 Charleston: W. Charleston
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Charleston. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Charleston.
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 and doctors 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 Charleston is located in Penobscot 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 Penobscot County: Aroostook, Hancock, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near West Charleston. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Charleston:
- Penobscot County (The home county of West Charleston)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Charleston, with the one closest to West Charleston listed first.
- Charleston
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Charleston is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,675 people
- Garland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Garland is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,046 people
- Corinth
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Bradford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- North Bradford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- North Bradford is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bradford
- East Exeter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- East Exeter is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Exeter
- Exeter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Exeter is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,098 people
- Bradford Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Bradford Center is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford Center
- South Corinth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Corinth is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Corinth
- Silvers Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Silvers Mills is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvers Mills
- Russell Corner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Russell Corner is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Corner
- Hudson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hudson is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,499 people
- Piscataquis County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Charleston, with the one closest to West Charleston listed first.
- Atkinson Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Atkinson Mills is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson Mills
- Atkinson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Atkinson is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Dover South Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dover South Mills is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover South Mills
- South Dover
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- South Dover is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dover
- Boyd Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Boyd Lake is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd Lake
- Dover - Foxcroft
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- East Sangerville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- East Sangerville is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sangerville
- Milo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Milo is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,314 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milo <1>
- Howard Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Howard Corner is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Corner
- Sebec
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Steadman Landing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Steadman Landing is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steadman Landing
- Bowerbank
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bowerbank is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerbank
- Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Charleston, with the one closest to West Charleston listed first.
- Ripley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Ripley is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 479 people
- Saint Albans
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Cambridge
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Palmyra
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Detroit
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hartland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Houston Corner
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Houston Corner is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Corner
- Mainstream
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Mainstream is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainstream
- Dogtown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Dogtown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
- West Palmyra
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- West Palmyra is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Palmyra
- Pittsfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Harmony
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Waldo County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Charleston, with the one closest to West Charleston listed first.
- Troy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- North Winterport
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Winterport is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Winterport
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Charleston, see our County-by-County Page for West Charleston.
Cemeteries Near West Charleston ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Charleston.
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 Charleston - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Charleston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Charleston, with the one closest to West Charleston listed first.
- Evergreen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- No Exeter Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Corinthian Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hart Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- West Garland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Exeter Mills Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Trask Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Corner Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hillside Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- South Dover Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Crowell Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (163 more) ...
- Boutell Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Gould Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bragg Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Charleston had a population of 46 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Charleston, with the one closest to West Charleston listed first.
- Charleston
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Charleston is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,675 people
- Garland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Garland is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,046 people
- East Corinth
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Corinth
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Exeter Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Exeter Mills is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter Mills
- Bradford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- North Bradford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- North Bradford is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bradford
- South Dover
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- South Dover is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dover
- Atkinson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Atkinson is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Dover South Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dover South Mills is located in Piscataquis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover South Mills
- Exeter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Exeter is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,098 people
- East Exeter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- East Exeter is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Exeter
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- West Corinth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- West Corinth is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Corinth
- South Corinth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Corinth is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Corinth
- Bradford Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Bradford Center is located in Penobscot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford Center
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Charleston. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Charleston.
Newspapers Published in West Charleston ...
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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Charleston.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Charleston, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Charleston.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 West Charleston:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to Penobscot County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Piscataquis County
- Somerset 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> | 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 Charleston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- West Charleston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |