Bristols in the United States
Places named Bristol in North America
The Bristols I've visited are marked in blue, the ones I've yet to see are those in red.
The map is clickable, click on the state containing a Bristol to learn more about
it
There is also an entire district, Bristol Bay, in Alaska
Introduction
There are over thirty places named Bristol in North America, including those in Alaska and Canada. I hope to eventually visit them all. Some of the communities are very small and have no web presence at all. At least one, the Bristol in Nevada, is deserted.
Suggested itinerary
Starting from New York, this is way I would plan the route. It's only a suggestion of course, but it seems a reasonable way to set about visiting all of them.
| Start point | Destination | Time (Hours) | Main roads | Distance (Miles) | Direction |
| New York | Bristol, Connecticut | 2 | I 95 N / CT 8 N | 109 | NE |
| Bristol, Connecticut | Bristol, Rhode Island |
2.5 | I 95 N | 132 | E |
| Bristol, Rhode Island |
Taunton, Massachusetts (*1) | 0.5 | RI 24 N | 30 | N |
| Taunton, Massachusetts (*1) | Bristol, New Hampshire |
2.5 | I 93 N | 142 | N |
| Bristol, New Hampshire |
Bristol, Maine (*2) | 4 | I 95 N / US 1 N | 191 | NE |
| Bristol, Maine (*2) | Bristol, Vermont | 6 | I 95 S / I 89 N | 310 | E |
| Bristol, Vermont | Bristol, New York (*3) |
6.5 | I 90 W | 317 | NW |
| Bristol, New York (*3) |
Bristol, Michigan | 9 | PR 402 W / I 69 W |
525 | W |
| Bristol, Michigan | Bristol, Indiana | 3.5 | US 131 S | 183 | S |
| Bristol, Indiana | Bristol, Illinois | 3 | I 80 W | 168 | W |
| Bristol, Illinois | Bristol, Wisconsin | 2 | I 88 E / I 294 / I 94 W |
95 | N |
| Bristol, Wisconsin | Bristol, Minnesota | 6 | I 90 W | 313 | NW |
| Bristol, Minnesota | Bristol, Iowa | 2.5 | I 90 W | 96 | SW |
| Bristol, Iowa | Bristol, South Dakota |
6.5 | I 90 W / I 29 N | 353 | NW |
| Bristol, South Dakota |
Bristol, Washington | 24.5 | I 94 W / I 90 W | 1,479 | W |
| Bristol, Washington | Bristol, Nevada | 17.5 | I 82 E / I 84 E / US 93 | 889 | SE |
| Bristol, Nevada | Bristol, Colorado | 19 | US 50 E | 867 | E |
| Bristol, Colorado | Bristol, Kansas City, Missouri (*4) | 10.5 | I 35 N | 498 | E |
| Bristol, Kansas City, Missouri | Bristol, Texas | 10 | I 35 S | 585 | S |
| Bristol, Colorado | Bristol, Texas (*5) | 14 | US 270 / I 35 S | 647 | SE |
| Bristol, Texas | Bristol, Louisiana | 7 | I 20 E / I 49 S | 398 | SE |
| Bristol, Louisiana | Bristol, Florida | 8.5 | I 10 E | 482 | E |
| Bristol, Florida | Bristol, Georgia | 5.5 | US 84 | 209 | NE |
| Bristol, Georgia | Bristol, Tennessee / Virginia |
10 | US 1 / GA 15 | 441 | N |
| Bristol, Tennessee / Virginia |
Bristol, Ohio | 6 | I 77 N | 327 | N |
| Bristol, Ohio | Bristol, West Virginia |
2.5 | I 77 S | 111 | SE |
| Bristol, West Virginia |
Bristol, Maryland | 4.5 | I 68 E | 278 | E |
| Bristol, Maryland | Bristol, Pennsylvania | 3 | I 895 N / I 95 N | 159 | NE |
| Bristol, Pennsylvania | Bristol, New Jersey | 2 | I 95 S / NJ 42 S | 104 | N |
| Bristol, New Jersey | New York | 2.5 | US 9 N | 148 | NE |
Population data from the US Census Bureau
The total round trip would be just short of 10,000 miles and take at least 200 hours of driving. Taking the "side" trips to Canada would add around 4,000 miles. I used the MapQuest Road Trip Planner to help prepare the above table.
Notes :-
*1 - Taunton, Massachusetts is the County Town of Bristol County.
*2 - From Bristol, Maine you can continue into Canada to visit the Bristols in New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador, but add about 3,000 miles to the round trip.
*3 - From Bristol, New York you can continue into Canada to visit Bristol, Quebec, but add another 600 miles to the round trip. Another problem with this stage is that to get from Bristol, New York to Bristol, Michigan you can either go south around the Great Lakes or cut through Canada, saving a couple of hundred miles off the trip. This trip assumes cutting through Canada, incidentally this way you go through London, Ontario.
*4 - This Bristol is a subdivision of Kansas City, Missouri.
*5 - Missing out Kansas City, Missouri, and 6.5 hours or 436 miles driving.
Bristol by Age :-
| State | Founded |
| Rhode Island | 1680 |
| Pennsylvania | 1681 |
| Maine | 1765 |
| New York | 1778 |
| Connecticut | 1785 |
| Vermont | 1789 |
| Ohio | 1804 |
| Indiana | 1834 |
| Tennessee / Virginia | 1850 |
| Michigan | 1887 |
Bristol by Population :-
| State | Population (1990) | Population (2000) |
| Connecticut | 60,640 | 60,062 |
| Massachusetts | 50,623 | N/A |
| Tennessee / Virginia | 41,847 | 42,188 |
| Tennessee | 23,421 | 24,821 |
| Rhode Island | 21,625 | 22,469 |
| Virginia | 18,426 | 17,367 |
| Pennsylvania | 10,405 | 9,923 |
| Illinois | 5,598 | N/A |
| Wisconsin | 1,850 | 4,538 |
| Vermont | 1,801 | 3,788 |
| New Hampshire | 1,483 | 3,033 |
| Maine | 825 | 2,644 |
| New York | 2,071 | 2,421 |
| Indiana | 1,133 | 1,382 |
| Georgia | 1,361 | N/A |
| Florida | 937 | 845 |
| Minnesota | 385 | 499 |
| Michigan | 380 | |
| South Dakota | 419 | 377 |
| Iowa | 258 | 202 |
| Ohio | 173 | N/A |
One person who has visited all the Bristols in the US is Chuck Lamb
This page created 19th July 2002, last modified 17th August 2005
