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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 Townsend (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 Townsend. 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 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.

Townsend is located in Utah County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Utah County: Carbon, Duchesne, Juab, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Tooele & Wasatch.

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

  • Utah County     (The home county of Townsend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Genola
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Genola is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,597 people
    • Santaquin
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Spring Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Spring Lake is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Goshen
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Goshen is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Former names for Goshen:
      • Lower Goshen
      • Mechanicsville
      • Sandtown
      • Sodom
      • Goshen has also been known as:
      • Old Goshen
    • Payson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Payson is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,033 people
      • Former names for Payson:
      • Fort Peteetneet
      • Pacen
      • Peteetneet
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Payson <1>
    • West Mountain
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • West Mountain is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Mountain
    • Elberta
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Elk Ridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Elk Ridge is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,427 people
    • Benjamin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Benjamin is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamin
    • Woodland Hills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Woodland Hills is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,614 people
    • Benjamin Station
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Benjamin Station is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamin Station
    • Salem
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Juab County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Rocky Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
    • Mona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Knightville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Knightville is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightville
    • Eureka
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Diamond ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Diamond is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
    • Mammoth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Mammoth is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
      • Mammoth has also been known as:
      • Robinson
    • Ironton ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Ironton is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironton
    • Silver City ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Silver City is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Fort Nephi ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Fort Nephi is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Nephi
    • Nephi
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Nephi is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nephi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,479 people
      • Former name for Nephi:
      • Little Chicago
      • Nephi has also been known as:
      • Nephi City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nephi <1>
    • Tintic ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Tintic is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tintic
      • Tintic has also been known as:
      • Ely Mills
      • McIntyre
    • Boulter
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Boulter is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulter
    • Jericho ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jericho is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jericho
  • Sanpete County
    • Fountain Green
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Tooele County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Scranton ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Scranton is located in Tooele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
    • Topliff ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Topliff is located in Tooele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topliff
    • Lofgreen ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Lofgreen is located in Tooele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofgreen
      • Lofgreen has also been known as:
      • Lofgreen Siding
    • Sunshine ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunshine is located in Tooele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
    • Mercur ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mercur is located in Tooele County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercur

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

Cemeteries Near Townsend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Townsend.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend 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.<3>

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

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

  • Santaquin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Goshen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Payson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Payson is located in Utah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,033 people
    • Former names for Payson:
    • Fort Peteetneet
    • Pacen
    • Peteetneet
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Payson <1>
  • Benjamin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Benjamin is located in Utah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamin
  • Salem
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake Shore
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Shore is located in Utah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
  • Mona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Spanish Fork
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Spanish Fork is located in Utah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Fork
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,268 people
    • Spanish Fork has also been known as:
    • Spanish Fork City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spanish Fork <1>
  • Eureka
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Mammoth
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Mammoth is located in Juab County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
    • Mammoth has also been known as:
    • Robinson
  • Springville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mammoth Junction
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Mammoth Junction is located in Juab County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth Junction
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Ironton ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Ironton is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironton
    • Silver City ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Silver City is located in Juab County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Thistle ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Thistle is located in Utah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle

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

Newspapers Published in Townsend ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Townsend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Townsend, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Townsend.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Townsend:

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>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.
<3>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 Townsend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Townsend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.