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 Portsmouth (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 Portsmouth. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.
Portsmouth is located in Newport 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 Newport County : Bristol (MA) , Bristol , Kent & Washington .
Below are the counties that are near Portsmouth. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Portsmouth:
Newport County (The home county of Portsmouth)
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Melville (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Melville is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville Portsmouth (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Portsmouth is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth Lawtons (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Lawtons is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawtons Prudence Island (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Prudence Island is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudence Island Tiverton Four Corners (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Tiverton (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Tiverton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton Middletown (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Middletown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown Population from the 2020 Census: 15,803 people
Middletown (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Middletown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown Tiverton (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Tiverton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton Population from the 2020 Census: 15,569 people
Newport East (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Newport East is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport East Bliss Corners (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
Bliss Corners is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corners Jamestown (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Jamestown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Population from the 2020 Census: 5,482 people
Bristol County
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Bristol (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Bristol is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol Bristol (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Bristol is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol Population from the 2020 Census: 21,866 people
Coggeshall (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Coggeshall is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coggeshall Barrington (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Barrington is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Population from the 2020 Census: 16,015 people
Warren (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Warren is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Population from the 2020 Census: 10,469 people
Warren (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Warren is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Annawomscutt (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Annawomscutt is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annawomscutt Barrington (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Barrington is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Kent County
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Buttonwoods (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Buttonwoods is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttonwoods East Greenwich (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
East Greenwich is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenwich Kettle Corner (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Kettle Corner is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kettle Corner Oakland Beach (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Oakland Beach is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Beach Shawomet (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Shawomet is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawomet Warwick (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Warwick is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick Population from the 2020 Census: 81,189 people
Apponaug (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
Apponaug is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apponaug Cowesett (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
Cowesett is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowesett East Greenwich (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
East Greenwich is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenwich Population from the 2020 Census: 13,141 people
Hillsgrove (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Hillsgrove is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsgrove Shippee Corner (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
Shippee Corner is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippee Corner Norwood (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Norwood is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood Providence County
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Kent Corner (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
Kent Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Corner Riverside (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
Riverside is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Bellefonte (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Bellefonte is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte Armington Corner (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Armington Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armington Corner Luthers Corners (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Luthers Corners is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luthers Corners Garden City (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Garden City is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City Oaklawn (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Oaklawn is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaklawn Sockanosset (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Sockanosset is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sockanosset East Providence (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
East Providence is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Providence Population from the 2020 Census: 47,337 people
Leonard Corner (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Leonard Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard Corner Cranston (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Cranston is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranston Population from the 2020 Census: 81,142 people
Meshanticut (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Meshanticut is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meshanticut Washington County
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Mount View (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
Mount View is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount View Saunderstown (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Saunderstown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saunderstown North Kingstown (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
North Kingstown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Kingstown Allenton (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Allenton is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenton Belleville (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Belleville is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleville North Kingstown (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
North Kingstown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Kingstown Population from the 2020 Census: 26,278 people
Wickford (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Wickford is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickford Bridgetown (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
Bridgetown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown Wickford Junction (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Wickford Junction is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickford Junction Narragansett (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Narragansett is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narragansett Population from the 2020 Census: 15,309 people
Narragansett (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Narragansett is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narragansett Exeter (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
Exeter is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter New London County (CT)
Voluntown (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Voluntown is located in New London County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voluntown Population from the 2020 Census: 2,500 people
Windham County (CT)
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Oneco (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Sterling (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Sterling is located in Windham County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling Population from the 2020 Census: 3,764 people
Ekonk (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Ekonk is located in Windham County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekonk Sterling (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Barnstable County (MA)
Woods Hole (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Woods Hole is located in Barnstable County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Hole Bristol County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Globe Village (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Globe Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe Village Central Village (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
Central Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village Westport (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
Westport is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Population from the 2020 Census: 16,097 people
Fall River (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Fall River is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River Population from the 2020 Census: 89,792 people
Ocean Grove (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Ocean Grove is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Grove Flint Village (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Flint Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Village North Westport (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
North Westport is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Westport Oak Grove Village (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Oak Grove Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Village Acoaxet (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Acoaxet is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acoaxet Westport Point (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Westport Point is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Point Gidleys Corner (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Gidleys Corner is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gidleys Corner Bowenville (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Bowenville is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowenville Dukes County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Cuttyhunk (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
Cuttyhunk is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuttyhunk Gosnold (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Gosnold is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnold Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
Aquinnah (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Aquinnah is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquinnah Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
Former name for Aquinnah:
Gay Head Menemsha (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Menemsha is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha Norfolk County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Plainville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Plainville is located in Norfolk County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville Population from the 2020 Census: 9,280 people
Burnt Swamp Corner (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Burnt Swamp Corner is located in Norfolk County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Swamp Corner Plymouth County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Mattapoisett (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
Mattapoisett is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattapoisett Population from the 2020 Census: 6,427 people
Lakeville (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Lakeville is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville Population from the 2020 Census: 11,698 people
North Lakeville (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
North Lakeville is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeville Rochester (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Rochester is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Population from the 2020 Census: 5,740 people
Marion (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Marion is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Population from the 2020 Census: 5,189 people
Middleborough (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Middleborough is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleborough Population from the 2020 Census: 25,722 people
Rock (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Rock is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Namasket Village (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
Namasket Village is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Namasket Village South Middleboro (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
South Middleboro is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Middleboro Briarwood Beach (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Briarwood Beach is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Beach Weweantic (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Weweantic is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weweantic West Wareham (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
West Wareham is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wareham
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Portsmouth, see our County-by-County Page for Portsmouth .
Cemeteries Near Portsmouth ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Portsmouth.
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 Portsmouth - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Portsmouth covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Portsmouth Friends Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
St. Columbas Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Middletown Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Woodman - Peckham Family Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Barker Burying Ground (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Newport Memorial Park (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Walker Lot (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
De Wolf Lot (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Wolf Lot To give a relative sense of its location, the De Wolf Lot is located in Bristol . The De Wolf Lot has also been known as:
DeWolf Cemetery Wolf Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1907776 <4>
St. Michaels Memorial Garden (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
St. Michaels Churchyard Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Juniper Hill Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Continue List (667 more) ...
Braman Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Common Ground Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Island Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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 Portsmouth in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Portsmouth.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Portsmouth, with the one closest to Portsmouth listed first.
Portsmouth (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Portsmouth is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth South Portsmouth (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
South Portsmouth is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Portsmouth Bristol Ferry (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Bristol Ferry is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol Ferry Tiverton Four Corners (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Tiverton (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Tiverton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton Newport (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Newport is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Population from the 2020 Census: 24,412 people
Bristol (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Bristol is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol North Tiverton (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
North Tiverton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tiverton Little Compton (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Little Compton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton Adamsville (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
Adamsville is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville Jamestown (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
Jamestown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Hamilton (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Hamilton is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton Continue List (23 more) ...
Central Village (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
Central Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village Westport (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
Westport is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Population from the 2020 Census: 16,097 people
Fall River (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Fall River is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River Population from the 2020 Census: 89,792 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Portsmouth. See our List of 1890's Communities around Portsmouth .
Newspapers Published in Portsmouth ...
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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Portsmouth.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Portsmouth, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> Extended Newspaper List for Portsmouth.
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 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 Portsmouth:
Websites specific to Rhode Island Pages specific to Newport County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bristol County Kent County Providence County Washington County New London County Windham County Barnstable County Bristol County Dukes County Norfolk County Plymouth County Cemetery Information and Directories for Rhode Island Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Portsmouth. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Rhode Island: https://www.ri.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Portsmouth) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 . 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 . 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 Portsmouth, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.