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 West Branch (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 West Branch. 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 West Branch ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Branch: W. Branch
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Branch. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Branch.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.
West Branch is located in Lamoille County.
To see how the shape of Vermont's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lamoille County: Caledonia, Chittenden, Franklin, Orleans & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near West Branch. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Branch:
- Lamoille County (The home county of West Branch)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Stowe
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Stowe is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stowe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,447 people
- Stowe
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Lower Village
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Lower Village is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
- Moscow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Morristown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Morristown is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,549 people
- Cadys Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cadys Falls is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadys Falls
- Morrisville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Hyde Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Elmore
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Elmore is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 860 people
- Johnson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Johnson is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,619 people
- Cleveland Corners
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland Corners is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland Corners
- Cambridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cambridge is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,817 people
- Addison County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Starksboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Starksboro is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starksboro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,756 people
- Starksboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Jerusalem
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Jerusalem is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem
- Monkton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Monkton is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,106 people
- South Starksboro
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- South Starksboro is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Starksboro
- Lincoln
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- North Ferrisburgh
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- West Lincoln
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- West Lincoln is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lincoln
- Bristol
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bristol is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,838 people
- Bristol
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lincoln
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lincoln is located in Addison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,244 people
- North Ferrisburgh Station
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Caledonia County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Hardwick
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Hardwick is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,839 people
- East Hardwick
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- South Walden
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- South Walden is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Walden
- Walden
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Walden is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 944 people
- Walden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Walden is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walden
- Stannard
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Stannard is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stannard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
- Stannard
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Stannard is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stannard
- Peacham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Peacham is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 708 people
- West Danville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Groton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Groton is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 954 people
- Lakeside
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeside is located in Caledonia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Danville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Chittenden County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Bolton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Bolton is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,188 people
- Underhill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Underhill is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underhill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,076 people
- Nashville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Nashville is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
- Jericho Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Jericho
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Jericho is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jericho
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,006 people
- Jericho
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Richmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Richmond is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,100 people
- Richmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Westford
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Westford is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,123 people
- Huntington
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Huntington is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,969 people
- North Williston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- North Williston is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Williston
- Essex Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Essex Center is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex Center
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Binghamville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Binghamville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binghamville
- Fletcher
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Fletcher is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,348 people
- Fairfax
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fairfax is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,917 people
- Bakersfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Bakersfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Bakersfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,336 people
- East Georgia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- East Georgia is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Georgia
- Fairfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Fairfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,973 people
- Egypt ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Egypt is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
- Fairfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oakland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oakland is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Georgia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Georgia is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,806 people
- North Fairfax
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- North Fairfax is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fairfax
- Orange County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Williamstown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Williamstown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Williamstown is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,530 people
- Orange
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Orange is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,116 people
- Washington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Washington is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,014 people
- Orleans County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Craftsbury
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Craftsbury is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,170 people
- Craftsbury
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- East Craftsbury
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- East Craftsbury is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Craftsbury
- Mill Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Village is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Greensboro Bend
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Greensboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Greensboro is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensboro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 687 people
- Albany
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- South Albany
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- South Albany is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Albany
- Albany Center
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Albany Center is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany Center
- Albany
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Albany is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
- Population from the 2020 Census: 904 people
- Lowell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lowell is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- East Albany
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- East Albany is located in Orleans County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Albany
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Waterbury
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Waterbury is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,160 people
- Worcester
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Worcester is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worcester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,028 people
- Mill Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Mill Village is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Waterbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Worcester
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Middlesex
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Middlesex is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesex
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,724 people
- Middlesex
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Maple Corner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Maple Corner is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Corner
- Adamant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Calais
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Calais is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calais
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,606 people
- Calais
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Duxbury
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Duxbury is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Branch, see our County-by-County Page for West Branch.
Cemeteries Near West Branch ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Branch.
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 West Branch - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Branch covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- West Branch Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Trapp Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Village Center Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Riverbank Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Route 108 Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Luce Hill South Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Luce Hill North Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Sterling Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Sterling Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Maple Street Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Loomis Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Randolph - Herrick Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (426 more) ...
- La Porte Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Elmore Mtn. Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
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 West Branch in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Branch.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
- Stowe
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Moscow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Waterbury Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Morristown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Morristown is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
- Morrisville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cadys Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cadys Falls is located in Lamoille County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadys Falls
- West Bolton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- West Bolton is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bolton
- North Duxbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Duxbury is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Duxbury
- Waterbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Hyde Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Underhill Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Underhill Center is located in Chittenden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underhill Center
- Bolton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Worcester
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Putnamville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Putnamville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putnamville
- Johnson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Branch. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Branch.
Newspapers Published in West Branch ...
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 127 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Branch.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Branch, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Branch.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 West Branch:
- Websites specific to Vermont
- Pages specific to Lamoille County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Addison County
- Caledonia County
- Chittenden County
- Franklin County
- Orange County
- Orleans County
- Washington County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Vermont
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 West Branch, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Branch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |