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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Austin (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 Austin. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Austin is located in Washington County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Washington County: New London (CT), Windham (CT), Dukes (MA), Suffolk (NY), Bristol, Kent & Newport.

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Austin)
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Annawomscutt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Barrington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Barrington is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,015 people
    • Bristol
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Barrington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Bristol
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Bristol is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,866 people
    • Warren
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Warren is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,469 people
    • Warren
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coggeshall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Kent County
  • Newport County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Jamestown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jamestown is located in Newport County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,482 people
    • Clarks Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarks Village is located in Newport County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Village
    • Jamestown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Prudence Island
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Lawtons
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Brenton Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Brenton Village is located in Newport County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenton Village
    • Melville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Melville is located in Newport County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
    • Middletown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Newport East
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Newport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Middletown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Middletown is located in Newport County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,803 people
    • Portsmouth
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Portsmouth is located in Newport County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,108 people
  • Providence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Clayville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Kent ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Richmond ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Ashland ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Foster
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Foster is located in Providence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,747 people
    • Rockland ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Oaklawn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sockanosset
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Sockanosset is located in Providence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sockanosset
    • Garden City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Garden City is located in Providence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • Meshanticut
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chopmist
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Knightsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Knightsville is located in Providence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville
  • New London County (CT)
  • Tolland County (CT)
  • Windham County (CT)
  • Bristol County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Seekonk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Seekonk is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seekonk
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,851 people
    • Harris
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Harris is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
    • Ocean Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Ocean Grove is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Grove
    • South Rehoboth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • South Rehoboth is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rehoboth
    • Globe Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Globe Village is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe Village
    • Fall River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Hortonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • North Seekonk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • North Seekonk is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Seekonk
    • Swansea Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Swansea
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bowenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Attleborough City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Attleborough City is located in Bristol County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleborough City
  • Worcester County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Blackstone
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Blackstone is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackstone
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,209 people
    • Millerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Millville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Millville is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,236 people

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

Cemeteries Near Austin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Austin.

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 Austin - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Allen Straight Lot
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Arnold Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Lillibridge Burial Ground
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Straight Plot
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Austin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Lewis Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Lewis Plot
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Tefft Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Perkins Plot
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • James Plot
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lillibridge Plot
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Indian Rock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Continue List   (753 more) ...
    • Sheldon Plot
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cezar Onion Plot
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Willcox - Tate Plot
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)

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 Austin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Austin.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Austin ...

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 Austin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Austin, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Austin.

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 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 Austin:

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 '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- Austin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>The Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission (RIHCC) has created and maintains a database of cemeteries. More information about the RIHCC can be found on their website: rihistoriccemeteries.org.
<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 Austin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.