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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 Allendale (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 Allendale. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Allendale is located in Ottawa County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ottawa County: Allegan, Kent & Muskegon.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Allendale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Allendale.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.

  • Allendale Twp. Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allendale Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allendale Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rusk Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rusk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rusk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maplewood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maplewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maplewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eastmanville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eastmanville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eastmanville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blendon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blendon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blendon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ottawa Center Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ottawa Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ottawa Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olive Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bauer Road Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bauer Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bauer Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Robinson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robinson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robinson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Borculo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Borculo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Borculo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (244 more) ...
    • St. Michael's Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michael's Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michael's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Georgetown Twp. Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Marne Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marne Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Allendale had a population of 160 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Pearline
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearline have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearline
    • Pearline is located in Ottawa County
  • Eastmanville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Lamont
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bauer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bauer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bauer
    • Bauer is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bauer
    • From Allendale to Bauer
  • Borculo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borculo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borculo
    • Borculo is located in Ottawa County
  • South Blendon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Tallmadge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tallmadge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallmadge
    • Tallmadge is located in Ottawa County
  • Coopersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Robinson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Robinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Robinson is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Robinson
    • From Allendale to Robinson
  • Olive Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Center
    • Olive Center is located in Ottawa County
  • Dennison
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dennison have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennison
    • Dennison is located in Ottawa County
  • Beaverdam
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaverdam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdam
    • Beaverdam is located in Ottawa County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Allendale ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Allendale.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Allendale. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Allendale and those printed in the larger area surrounding Allendale.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<6> of Allendale.

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 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 Allendale:

The official website for Allendale: www.allendale-twp.org/

The official website for Ottawa County: www.co.ottawa.mi.us/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.
<5>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 Allendale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Allendale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Allendale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9722, Longitude: -85.9540       In this case, the coordinates for Allendale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025