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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 Fords Crossing (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 Fords Crossing. 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 Fords Crossing ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Fords Crossing: Fords Xing.
  • While the name of this community is Fords Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Fords Crossing may originally have been Ford's Crossing.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Fords Crossing might be written as Ford Crossing.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Fords Crossing. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Fords Crossing.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Fords Crossing is located in Merrimack County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Merrimack County: Belknap, Grafton, Hillsborough, Rockingham, Strafford & Sullivan.

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

  • Merrimack County     (The home county of Fords Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • Danbury
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wilmot
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Wilmot is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,406 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilmot <2>
    • Hill Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Hill Center is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Center
    • Potter Place
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Potter Place is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Place
    • West Andover
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • West Andover is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover
    • Wilmot Flat
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Wilmot Flat is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot Flat
    • Andover
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Hill is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,115 people
    • Elkins
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Elkins is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkins
    • East Andover
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • East Andover is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Andover
    • New London
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Blodgett Landing
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Blodgett Landing is located in Merrimack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett Landing
  • Belknap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • New Hampton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Gaza
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Gaza is located in Belknap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaza
    • Sanbornton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Tilton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Gardners Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Gardners Grove is located in Belknap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardners Grove
    • Winona
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Winona is located in Belknap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
    • Wildwood Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Wildwood Village is located in Belknap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Village
    • Winnisquam
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Meredith
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Belmont
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Laconia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Interlaken Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Interlaken Park is located in Belknap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken Park
    • Allens Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Allens Mills is located in Belknap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Mills
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • Big Rock Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Big Rock Corner is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock Corner
    • Chicks Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Chicks Corner is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicks Corner
    • Moultonborough
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandwich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sandwich is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandwich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,367 people
    • Melvin Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Grafton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • East Grafton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • East Grafton is located in Grafton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Grafton
    • Grafton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • South Alexandria
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • South Alexandria is located in Grafton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Alexandria
    • Alexandria
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bristol
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Orange
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Orange is located in Grafton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
    • Bridgewater
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Canaan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Groton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hebron
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Lockehaven
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lockehaven is located in Grafton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockehaven
    • Canaan Street
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Canaan Street is located in Grafton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaan Street
    • Lower Shaker Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Lower Shaker Village is located in Grafton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Shaker Village
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • Hillsboro Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hillsboro Center is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro Center
    • Hillsboro Upper Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Hillsborough
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Hillsborough is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsborough
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,019 people
      • Hillsborough has also been known as:
      • Hillsboro
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillsborough <2>
    • Chase Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Chase Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase Village
    • Hillsboro Lower Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • North Weare
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • North Weare is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Weare
    • Windsor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Windsor is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 232 people
  • Sullivan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • Springfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Springfield is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,348 people
    • Twin Lakes Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Twin Lakes Village is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes Village
    • Georges Mills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fernwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Fernwood is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernwood
    • North Grantham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • North Grantham is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Grantham
    • Grantham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Lower Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lower Village is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
    • Sunapee
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Croydon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Croydon is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croydon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 774 people
    • Croydon Flat
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Croydon Flat is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croydon Flat
    • Newport
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Meriden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Meriden is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
    • Goshen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Orange County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • Union Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Village is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village
    • Ely
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ely is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely
    • Thetford Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Thetford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Thetford is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thetford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,525 people
    • Fairlee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Post Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Post Mills is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Mills
    • Fairlee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairlee is located in Orange County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
    • South Strafford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Windsor County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing listed first.
    • Pompanoosuc
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Pompanoosuc is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pompanoosuc
    • White River Junction
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • White River Junction is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River Junction
    • Wilder
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Lewiston ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Lewiston is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewiston
    • Norwich
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hartford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • North Hartland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • North Hartland is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hartland
    • Norwich
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Norwich is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,401 people
    • Hartland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Windsor
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Hartford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Hartford is located in Windsor County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,566 people
    • Hartland Four Corners
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Ascutney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Fords Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fords Crossing.

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 Fords Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fords Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fords Crossing, with the one closest to Fords Crossing 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.<5>

While we didn't find Fords Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Fords Crossing.

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

  • Danbury
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • East Grafton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • East Grafton is located in Grafton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Grafton
  • Grafton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • South Alexandria
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • South Alexandria is located in Grafton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Alexandria
  • Grafton Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Grafton Center is located in Grafton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton Center
  • East Springfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • East Springfield is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Springfield
  • Wilmot
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Wilmot is located in Merrimack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,406 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilmot <2>
  • Alexandria
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • West Andover
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • West Andover is located in Merrimack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover
  • Potter Place
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Potter Place is located in Merrimack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Place
  • Springfield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Springfield is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,348 people
  • Wilmot Flat
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Wilmot Flat is located in Merrimack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot Flat
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Andover
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bristol
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • West Springfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Fords Crossing ...

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 116 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fords Crossing.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fords Crossing, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fords Crossing.

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 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 Fords Crossing:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Fords Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Fords Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.