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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 Dorchester (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 Dorchester. 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.

Dorchester 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 Dorchester. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Dorchester:

  • Grafton County     (The home county of Dorchester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • North Groton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • North Dorchester
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cheever
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • West Rumney
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Groton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wentworth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wentworth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
      • Wentworth is located in Grafton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wentworth <2>
    • Rumney
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Orange
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
    • Canaan Street
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Quincy
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
      • Quincy is located in Grafton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Quincy
      • From Dorchester to Quincy
    • Canaan
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Hebron
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
  • Belknap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • New Hampton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Hampton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Meredith
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Gaza
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Center Harbor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Sanbornton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanbornton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Interlaken Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tilton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tilton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Wildwood Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Village
      • Wildwood Village is located in Belknap County
    • Winnisquam
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Laconia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Gardners Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
  • Carroll County
  • Merrimack County
  • Sullivan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Springfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
    • North Grantham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Grantham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Meriden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Twin Lakes Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Croydon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Fernwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Mill Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Lower Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
      • Lower Village is located in Sullivan County
    • Plainfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Croydon Flat
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Orange County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Ely
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairlee
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Thetford Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Thetford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thetford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
    • Union Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village
      • Union Village is located in Orange County (VT)
    • Fairlee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairlee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlee
      • Fairlee is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
    • Post Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bradford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • West Fairlee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Fairlee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairlee
      • West Fairlee is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
    • Bradford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
      • Bradford is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,684 people
    • South Newbury
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • South Strafford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Windsor County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Pompanoosuc
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Lewiston ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Norwich
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwich have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
    • Norwich
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwich have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • Wilder
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilder have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
    • White River Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Hartford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • West Norwich
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Hartford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
      • Hartford is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,566 people
    • North Hartland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Quechee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Quechee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quechee
      • Quechee is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Quechee
      • From Dorchester to Quechee
    • Sharon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
      • Sharon is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,533 people

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

Cemeteries Near Dorchester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dorchester.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester 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 Dorchester had a population of 88 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Dorchester had a population of 359 people.

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

  • North Dorchester
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • North Groton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Cheever
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • West Rumney
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Groton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Canaan Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canaan Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaan Center
    • Canaan Center is located in Grafton County
  • Canaan Street
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Rumney Depot
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rumney Depot have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rumney Depot
    • Rumney Depot is located in Grafton County
  • Rumney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wentworth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wentworth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
    • Wentworth is located in Grafton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wentworth <2>
  • Canaan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Hebron
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Quincy
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
      • Quincy is located in Grafton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Quincy
      • From Dorchester to Quincy
    • East Hebron
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hebron
      • East Hebron is located in Grafton County
    • West Plymouth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plymouth
      • West Plymouth is located in Grafton County

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

Newspapers Published in Dorchester ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dorchester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dorchester, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dorchester.

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 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 Dorchester:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dorchester. 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>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.
<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 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.
<4>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- Dorchester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dorchester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7568, Longitude: -71.9479    
<5>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.
<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 Dorchester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025