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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 Alvin (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 Alvin. 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 doctors and 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.

Alvin is located in Alcona County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Alcona County: Alpena, Iosco, Montmorency, Ogemaw & Oscoda.

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

  • Alcona County     (The home county of Alvin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvin, with the one closest to Alvin listed first.
    • Mikado
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Gustin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Gustin is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustin
    • Greenbush
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Springport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Springport is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springport
    • Lincoln
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Harrisville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Barton City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Glennie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Hubbard Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Hubbard Lake is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Lake
    • Lost Lake Woods
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Lost Lake Woods is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Lake Woods
    • Alcona
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Alcona is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcona
    • Black River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Curtisville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Curtisville is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
  • Alpena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvin, with the one closest to Alvin listed first.
    • Hubbard Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Ossineke
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Arenac County
    • Harmon City Heights
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Harmon City Heights is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmon City Heights
  • Iosco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvin, with the one closest to Alvin listed first.
    • Lincoln Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lincoln Junction is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Junction
    • Foote Site Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Foote Site Village is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foote Site Village
    • Wilber
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Wilber is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilber
    • Au Sable
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Au Sable is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Au Sable
    • Oscoda
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sid Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Sid Town is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sid Town
    • East Tawas
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Tawas City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Hale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • White Rock ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • White Rock is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
    • Long Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • National City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Whittemore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ogemaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvin, with the one closest to Alvin listed first.
    • South Branch
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Lupton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Oscoda County
    • McKinley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • McKinley is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley

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

Cemeteries Near Alvin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alvin.

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

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

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

  • Chippewa Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • St. Raphael Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mikado Twp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikado Twp. Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mikado Twp. Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Mikado.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #239805 <2>
  • Pinecrest Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Au Sable Twp. Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Au Sable Twp. Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Au Sable Twp. Cemetery is located in Au Sable.
    • The Au Sable Twp. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Au Sable Cemetery
    • Old Au Sable Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1963009 <2>
  • Springport Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springport Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Springport Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located between<3> the communities of Greenbush and Harrisville.  The cemetery lies 2 miles [3.2 km]<4> to the south of Harrisville.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1799 <2>
  • St. Anne Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Anne Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Anne Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Harrisville.
    • The St. Anne Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Annes Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1575 <2>
  • Twin Lake Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lake Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Twin Lake Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Lincoln.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1766601 <2>
  • Wilber Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Westlawn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Westlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Harrisville.
    • The Westlawn Cemetery has also been known as:
    • West Cemetery
    • West Lawn Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1950 <2>
  • Maple Ridge Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Maple Ridge Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the east of Barton City.
    • The Maple Ridge Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Barton City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1008 <2>
  • Continue List   (41 more) ...
    • Pioneer Plains Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Glennie Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glennie Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Glennie Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the south of Glennie.
      • The Glennie Cemetery has also been known as:
      • East Curtis Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #602 <2>

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>

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

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

  • Mikado
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Greenbush
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Gustin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Gustin is located in Alcona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustin
  • Wilber
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Wilber is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilber
  • Au Sable
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Au Sable is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Au Sable
  • Oscoda
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Bryant
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Bryant is located in Alcona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
  • East Tawas
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Tawas City
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Alcona
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Alcona is located in Alcona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcona
  • Hale
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Black River
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Long Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Curran
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • McIvor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • McIvor is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIvor

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

Newspapers Published in Alvin ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alvin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alvin, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alvin.

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 either 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 Alvin:

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>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Greenbush and Harrisville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alvin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Alvin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.