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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 Bristol (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 Bristol. 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 doctors and 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.

Bristol is located in Grafton County.

To see how the shape of New Hampshire's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Grafton County: Belknap, Carroll, Coos, Merrimack, Sullivan, Caledonia (VT), Essex (VT), Orange (VT) & Windsor (VT).

Below are the counties that are near Bristol. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bristol:

  • Grafton County     (The home county of Bristol)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Bridgewater
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgewater
      • Bridgewater is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,082 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgewater <2>
    • Alexandria
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • South Alexandria
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hebron
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Hebron is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 633 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <2>
    • Ashland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Groton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Groton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 610 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Groton
      • From Bristol to Groton
    • East Grafton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Grafton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grafton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Grafton is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,337 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grafton <2>
    • Plymouth
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Holderness
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Orange
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
      • Orange is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
    • Quincy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Quincy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
      • Quincy is located in Grafton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Quincy
      • From Bristol to Quincy
    • North Groton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Belknap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • New Hampton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Hampton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hampton
      • New Hampton is located in Belknap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,234 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Hampton <2>
    • Gaza
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Sanbornton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanbornton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanbornton
      • Sanbornton is located in Belknap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,012 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sanbornton <2>
    • Meredith
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
      • Meredith is located in Belknap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meredith <2>
    • Wildwood Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Village
      • Wildwood Village is located in Belknap County
    • Tilton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tilton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
      • Tilton is located in Belknap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tilton <2>
    • Winnisquam
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gardners Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Interlaken Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Laconia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Gilford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilford
      • Gilford is located in Belknap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilford <2>
    • Center Harbor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Harbor
      • Center Harbor is located in Belknap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,097 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Harbor <2>
    • Belmont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Carroll County
  • Merrimack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Hill Center
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Danbury
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • East Andover
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Andover
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Franklin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Potter Place
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • West Andover
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Northfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfield
      • Northfield is located in Merrimack County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,979 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northfield <2>
    • Wilmot
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilmot have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
      • Wilmot is located in Merrimack County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,406 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilmot <2>
    • Salisbury
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
      • Salisbury is located in Merrimack County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,468 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salisbury <2>
    • Wilmot Flat
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Elkins
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Strafford County
  • Sullivan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Springfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
      • Springfield is located in Sullivan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,348 people
    • Twin Lakes Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes Village
      • Twin Lakes Village is located in Sullivan County
    • Georges Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Fernwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • North Grantham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Lower Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
      • Lower Village is located in Sullivan County
    • Grantham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantham
      • Grantham is located in Sullivan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,955 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grantham <2>
    • Sunapee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Croydon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Croydon Flat
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Newport
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Meriden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Goshen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Orange County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Ely
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairlee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village
      • Union Village is located in Orange County (VT)
    • Thetford Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Thetford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thetford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thetford
      • Thetford is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,525 people
  • Windsor County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Pompanoosuc
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lewiston ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Norwich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwich
      • Norwich is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwich <2>
    • White River Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Wilder
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilder have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilder
      • Wilder is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilder <2>
    • Hartford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • North Hartland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Norwich
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwich
      • Norwich is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,401 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bristol ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bristol.

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

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

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 Bristol had a population of 1,324 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bristol had a population of 3,156 people.

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

  • Bridgewater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgewater
    • Bridgewater is located in Grafton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,082 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgewater <2>
  • South Alexandria
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Alexandria
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • New Hampton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Hampton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hampton
    • New Hampton is located in Belknap County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,234 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Hampton <2>
  • North Sanbornton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Sanbornton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sanbornton
    • North Sanbornton is located in Belknap County
  • Danbury
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • East Hebron
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hebron
    • East Hebron is located in Grafton County
  • Hebron
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
    • Hebron is located in Grafton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 633 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <2>
  • Gaza
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Ashland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • East Andover
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Groton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Groton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 610 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Groton
      • From Bristol to Groton
    • East Grafton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Grafton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grafton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Grafton is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,337 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grafton <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bristol ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bristol.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bristol. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bristol and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bristol.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5> of Bristol.

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 websites either 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 Bristol:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bristol. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New Hampshire: https://www.nh.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bristol) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bristol. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5913, Longitude: -71.7364    
<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 Bristol, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025