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 Springfield (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 Springfield. 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 Springfield ...
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 Springfield: W. Springfield
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Springfield. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Springfield.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
West Springfield is located in Windsor 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 Windsor County: Grafton (NH), Sullivan (NH), Addison, Bennington, Orange, Rutland & Windham.
Below are the counties that are near West Springfield. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Springfield:
- Windsor County (The home county of West Springfield)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Springfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Springfield is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,875 people
- Springfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- North Springfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Chester Depot
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chester Depot is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Depot
- Chester
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Chester
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Chester is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,018 people
- Perkinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Baltimore
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Baltimore is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
- Weathersfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Weathersfield is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weathersfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,727 people
- Downers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Downers is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downers
- Cavendish
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Andover
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Bennington County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Landgrove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Landgrove is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landgrove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Landgrove Town Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Landgrove Town Center is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landgrove Town Center
- Peru
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Peru is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
- Winhall
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Winhall is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winhall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
- Bromley Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bromley Village is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bromley Village
- Barnumville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Barnumville is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnumville
- Dorset
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Dorset is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,937 people
- Manchester Depot
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Manchester Depot is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester Depot
- Manchester Center
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Manchester Center is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester Center
- Dorset
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Manchester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Manchester is located in Bennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,214 people
- Manchester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Rutland County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Healdville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Healdville is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healdville
- Mount Holly
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Holly is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Holly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,241 people
- Mount Holly
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bowlsville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bowlsville is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowlsville
- Mount Tabor
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Mount Tabor is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tabor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
- Shrewsbury
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Shrewsbury is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shrewsbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 979 people
- Wallingford
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Wallingford is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallingford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,938 people
- West Bridgewater
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- West Bridgewater is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bridgewater
- South Wallingford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- South Wallingford is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wallingford
- Wallingford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Danby Four Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Danby Four Corners is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danby Four Corners
- Danby
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Danby is located in Rutland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,308 people
- Windham County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Brockways Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Brockways Mills is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockways Mills
- Rockingham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Rockingham is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,986 people
- Rockingham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Grafton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Grafton is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Cambridgeport
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cambridgeport is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport
- Grafton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Saxtons River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Londonderry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Londonderry is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Londonderry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,639 people
- Athens
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Athens is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Bellows Falls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Athens
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Athens is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
- North Westminster
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- North Westminster is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Westminster
- Estimated population in 2011: 246 people
- Cheshire County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Cold River
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cold River is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold River
- Alstead
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Drewsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Drewsville is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drewsville
- Walpole
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Alstead Center
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Alstead Center is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alstead Center
- Marlow
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Marlow is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 733 people
- Gilsum
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lower Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lower Village is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
- Surry
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Surry is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
- Westmoreland
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Sullivan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Stoddard
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Grafton County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Pinewood Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pinewood Village is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood Village
- West Lebanon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- West Lebanon is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
- Lebanon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Meadow Brook Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Meadow Brook Village is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook Village
- Montcalm
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Montcalm is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm
- Lower Shaker Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lower Shaker Village is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Shaker Village
- Sachem Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sachem Village is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sachem Village
- Upper Shaker Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Upper Shaker Village is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Shaker Village
- Hanover
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Enfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mascoma
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mascoma is located in Grafton County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mascoma
- Hillsborough County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Windsor
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Windsor is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 232 people
- Hillsboro Upper Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hillsboro Upper Village is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro Upper Village
- Merrimack County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Mount Sunapee
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Blodgett Landing
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Blodgett Landing is located in Merrimack County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett Landing
- Newbury
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Bradford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- New London
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sutton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sutton is located in Merrimack County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,935 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sutton <1>
- Elkins
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Elkins is located in Merrimack County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkins
- Melvin Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Melvin Mills is located in Merrimack County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Mills
- Sullivan County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Charlestown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Quaker City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Quaker City is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker City
- Claremont
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Balloch
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Balloch is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balloch
- Langdon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Langdon is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 688 people
- Unity
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Unity is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,616 people
- Acworth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Acworth is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
- South Acworth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Acworth is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Acworth
- Cornish City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cornish City is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornish City
- Cornish
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Kelleyville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Kelleyville is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelleyville
- South Cornish
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- South Cornish is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Cornish
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Springfield, see our County-by-County Page for West Springfield.
Cemeteries Near West Springfield ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Springfield.
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 Springfield - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Springfield covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Oakland Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Field #1 - Day Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Field #2 Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Summer Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Spoonerville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- North Street Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Brookside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Parker Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (450 more) ...
- Crown Point Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Eureka Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Grout Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
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 Springfield in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Springfield.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Springfield, with the one closest to West Springfield listed first.
- Springfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- North Springfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- North Chester
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- North Chester is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Chester
- Chester Depot
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chester Depot is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Depot
- Chester
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bartonsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bartonsville is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonsville
- Gassetts
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Gassetts is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gassetts
- Perkinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Charlestown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Charlestown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- North Charlestown is located in Sullivan County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charlestown
- Weathersfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Weathersfield is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weathersfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,727 people
- Rockingham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Cavendish
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Amsden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Amsden is located in Windsor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsden
- Houghtonville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Houghtonville is located in Windham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghtonville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Springfield. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Springfield.
Newspapers Published in West Springfield ...
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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Springfield.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Springfield, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Springfield.
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 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 Springfield:
- Websites specific to Vermont
- Pages specific to Windsor County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bennington County
- Rutland County
- Windham County
- Cheshire County
- Grafton County
- Hillsborough County
- Merrimack County
- Sullivan 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 Springfield, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Springfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |