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 Athens (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 Athens. 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 hospitals and 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.
Athens is located in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County: Barry, Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.
Below are the counties that are near Athens. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Athens:
- Calhoun County (The home county of Athens)
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- East Leroy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
- Joppa
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Joppa is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Burlington
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Burlington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- West Leroy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Sonoma
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
- Tekonsha
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Beadle Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Beadle Lake is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beadle Lake
- Fort Custer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
- Former name for Fort Custer:
- Camp Custer
- Ceresco
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ceresco is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceresco
- Battle Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Brownlee Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Brownlee Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee Park
- Springfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Verona Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Verona Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona Park
- Barry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Hickory Corners
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Banfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Banfield is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banfield
- Delton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Cedar Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Cedar Creek is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
- Dowling
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Dowling is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowling
- Prairieville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Prairieville is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Doster
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Doster is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
- Branch County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Union City
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sherwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sherwood is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Matteson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Matteson is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
- Hodunk
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hodunk is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodunk
- Girard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Girard is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
- Batavia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Batavia is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
- Bronson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Coldwater
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Trailtree Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Trailtree Village is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trailtree Village
- Hatmaker
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hatmaker is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatmaker
- Gilead
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Gilead is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
- Quincy
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fisher
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fisher is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Corey
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Corey is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
- Marcellus
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Eaton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Bellevue
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Olivet
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hillsdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Litchfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Allen
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Mosherville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mosherville is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosherville
- Jonesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Montgomery
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Montgomery is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
- Population from the 2020 Census: 329 people
- Reading
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jackson County
- Concord
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Kalamazoo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Fulton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Climax
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Climax is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Scotts
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pavillion Center
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Vicksburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Galesburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Augusta
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Comstock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
- Portage
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Milwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Milwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwood
- Schoolcraft
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Eastwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- Yorkville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
- Saint Joseph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Factoryville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Factoryville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factoryville
- Leonidas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Colon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <1>
- Fairfax
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fairfax is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
- Mendon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Findley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Findley is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Findley
- Nottawa
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wasepi
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
- Parkville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
- Burr Oak
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Centreville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
- Fawn River
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Fawn River is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn River
- Sturgis
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Van Buren County
- Mattawan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- LaGrange County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Greenfield Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Greenfield Mills is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
- Brighton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Brighton is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
- Howe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Mongo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Scott
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Scott is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
- Seyberts
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Seyberts is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
- Brushy Prairie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Brushy Prairie is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Prairie
- Steuben County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Orland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Jamestown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jamestown is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Fremont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ray
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ray is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Athens, see our County-by-County Page for Athens.
Cemeteries Near Athens ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Athens.
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 Athens - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Athens covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Burr Oak Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Old Burg Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- North Sherwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Indian Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Stimpson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Walker Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Factoryville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Athens Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Blossom Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sherwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Riverside Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Abscota Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (302 more) ...
- German Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mather Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Northside Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Athens had a population of 441 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Athens had a population of 996 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Athens, with the one closest to Athens listed first.
- Factoryville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Factoryville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factoryville
- Pine Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Pine Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
- Union City
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- East Leroy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
- Sherwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sherwood is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Fulton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Leonidas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Joppa
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Joppa is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Burlington
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Burlington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- Colon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <1>
- West Leroy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Matteson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Matteson is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Hodunk
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hodunk is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodunk
- Sonoma
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
- Fairfax
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fairfax is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Athens. See our List of 1890's Communities around Athens.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Athens ...
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 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around Athens.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Athens. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Athens and those printed in the larger area surrounding Athens.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Athens.
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 Athens:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Calhoun County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barry County
- Branch County
- Cass County
- Eaton County
- Hillsdale County
- Jackson County
- Kalamazoo County
- Saint Joseph County
- Van Buren County
- LaGrange County
- Steuben County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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> | 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 Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |