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 Gardiner (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 Gardiner. 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.
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.
West Gardiner is located in Kennebec 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 Kennebec County: Androscoggin, Franklin, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Somerset & Waldo.
Below are the counties that are near West Gardiner. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Gardiner:
- Kennebec County (The home county of West Gardiner)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Purgatory
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Purgatory is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purgatory
- Batchelders Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Batchelders Crossing is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batchelders Crossing
- East Monmouth
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- East Monmouth is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Monmouth
- Gardiner
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Winthrop Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Winthrop Center is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Center
- Litchfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- South Monmouth
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- South Monmouth is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Monmouth
- Farmingdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Pittston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Pittston is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,819 people
- Randolph
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- East Winthrop
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Hallowell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Androscoggin County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Wales
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Wales is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,640 people
- Leeds Junction
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Leeds Junction is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds Junction
- Wales Corner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Wales Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales Corner
- Curtis Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Curtis Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis Corner
- Leeds
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Leeds is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,320 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leeds <1>
- Drinkwater Corner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Drinkwater Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drinkwater Corner
- Nason Beach
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Nason Beach is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nason Beach
- Sabattus
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Greene
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Greene Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Greene Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene Corner
- North Leeds
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- North Leeds is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leeds
- Foggs Corner
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Foggs Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foggs Corner
- Cumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Brunswick
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Harding
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Harding is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harding
- North Pownal
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- North Pownal is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pownal
- Bunganuc Landing
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Bunganuc Landing is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunganuc Landing
- Pennellville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Pennellville is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennellville
- New Gloucester
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Harpswell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- East Harpswell is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Harpswell
- Freeport
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Pownal
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Merepoint
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Merepoint is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merepoint
- Shaker Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Shaker Village is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
- Cundys Harbor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Chisholm
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Chisholm is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chisholm
- Chesterville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Chesterville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,348 people
- Jay
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jay is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jay
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,598 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jay <1>
- North Chesterville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- North Chesterville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Chesterville
- Farmington Falls
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- North Jay
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- North Jay is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Jay
- New Sharon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dryden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dryden is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden
- East Wilton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- East Wilton is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wilton
- Wilton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Globe
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Globe is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Razorville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Razorville is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razorville
- Stickney Corner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Stickney Corner is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stickney Corner
- Washington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Lucas Corner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Lucas Corner is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas Corner
- Burkettville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Burkettville is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burkettville
- Union
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Dresden
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Whitefield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hatchs Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hatchs Corner is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchs Corner
- South Dresden
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Dresden is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dresden
- North Whitefield
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- North Whitefield is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Whitefield
- Head Tide
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Head Tide is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Head Tide
- Coopers Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Alna
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Newcastle
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- North Newcastle is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Newcastle
- Wiscasset
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Somerville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Somerville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Jefferson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Oxford County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Buckfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hartford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hartford is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,229 people
- Canton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Canton is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,097 people
- East Sumner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- East Sumner is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sumner
- Hebron
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Canton Point
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Canton Point is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton Point
- Gilbertville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Gilbertville is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville
- Sumner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oxford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Paris
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Paris is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,162 people
- South Paris
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Sagadahoc County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Richmond Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Richmond Corner is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Corner
- Richmond
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bowdoin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bowdoin is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowdoin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,222 people
- Bowdoin Center
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Bowdoin Center is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowdoin Center
- Harwards
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Harwards is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwards
- Bowdoinham
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Days Ferry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Days Ferry is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Days Ferry
- Pejepscot
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Pejepscot is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pejepscot
- Topsham
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bath
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Murphys Corner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Murphys Corner is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphys Corner
- Woolwich
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Smithfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Fairfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Waldo County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Palermo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- North Palermo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- North Palermo is located in Waldo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Palermo
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Gardiner, see our County-by-County Page for West Gardiner.
Cemeteries Near West Gardiner ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Gardiner.
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 Gardiner - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Gardiner covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- Fairbanks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Friends Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Howard Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- North Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Grant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Libby Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Northern Ave. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Ave. Cemetery
- The Northern Ave. Cemetery has also been known as:
- Chapman Cemetery
- Plains Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Plaisted Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plaisted Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Plaisted Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Gardiner.
- The Plaisted Cemetery has also been known as:
- Highland Ave. Cemetery
- West Hill Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #90690 <3>
- Continue List (450 more) ...
- Monmouth Ridge Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- East Winthrop Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
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, West Gardiner had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, West Gardiner had a population of 3,376 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Gardiner, with the one closest to West Gardiner listed first.
- East Monmouth
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- East Monmouth is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Monmouth
- South Monmouth
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- South Monmouth is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Monmouth
- Litchfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Litchfield Plains
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Litchfield Plains is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield Plains
- Winthrop Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Winthrop Center is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop Center
- Gardiner
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Pittston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Pittston is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,819 people
- Randolph
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Farmingdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- East Winthrop
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Hallowell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Litchfield Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Litchfield Corners is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield Corners
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- South Gardiner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- South Gardiner is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gardiner
- Manchester
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Winthrop
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Gardiner. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Gardiner.
Newspapers Published in West Gardiner ...
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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Gardiner.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Gardiner, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Gardiner.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 West Gardiner:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to Kennebec County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Androscoggin County
- Cumberland County
- Franklin County
- Knox County
- Lincoln County
- Oxford County
- Sagadahoc 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> | 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 Gardiner) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 West Gardiner, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |