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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Aura (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 Aura. 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 hospitals 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.

Aura is located in Baraga 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 Baraga County: Houghton, Iron & Marquette.

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

  • Baraga County     (The home county of Aura)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aura, with the one closest to Aura listed first.
    • Pequaming
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Pequaming is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequaming
    • Skanee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Keweenaw Bay
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Keweenaw Bay is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keweenaw Bay
    • Baraga
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bear Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bear Town is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Town
    • L'Anse
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pelkie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Alberta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Alberta is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
    • Nestoria
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Nestoria is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nestoria
    • Vermilac
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Vermilac is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilac
    • Covington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Watton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Houghton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aura, with the one closest to Aura listed first.
    • Jacobsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jacobsville is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobsville
    • White City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • White City is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Portage Entry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Portage Entry is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage Entry
    • Chassell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Elo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Elo is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elo
    • Dreamland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Dreamland is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dreamland
    • Dollar Bay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hazel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Hazel is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
    • Mason
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Mason is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
    • Baltic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Baltic is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltic
    • Champion Mine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Champion Mine is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion Mine
    • Dodgeville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dodgeville is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodgeville
    • Hurontown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hurontown is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurontown
  • Keweenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aura, with the one closest to Aura listed first.
    • Snowshoe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Snowshoe is located in Keweenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowshoe
    • Gay
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Gay is located in Keweenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay
    • Traverse
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Traverse is located in Keweenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traverse
    • Allouez
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Ahmeek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Fulton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Fulton is located in Keweenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Mohawk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Marquette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Aura, with the one closest to Aura listed first.
    • Dodge City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Dodge City is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
    • Michigamme
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Bay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Burns Landing
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Burns Landing is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Landing
    • Alder
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Alder is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
    • Beacon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Beacon is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon
    • Champion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Homeier
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Homeier is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeier
    • Clowry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Clowry is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clowry

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

Cemeteries Near Aura ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Aura.

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

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

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

  • Aura Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Pequaming Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Old Skanee Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Pinery Indian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Skanee Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Assinins Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Baraga Village Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • L'Anse Twp. Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Keweenaw Bay Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Jacobsville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Kargi Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Askel Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (30 more) ...
    • Herman Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Pelkie Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Chassell Twp. Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 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>

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

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

  • Pequaming
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Pequaming is located in Baraga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequaming
  • Skanee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Baraga
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • L'Anse
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Chassell
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Dollar Bay
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Nestoria
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Nestoria is located in Baraga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nestoria
  • Ripley
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ripley is located in Houghton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
  • Houghton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Atlantic Mine
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Atlantic Mine is located in Houghton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic Mine
  • Hancock
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Lake Linden
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Vermilac
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Vermilac is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilac
    • Michigamme
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Boston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Boston is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston

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

Newspapers Published in Aura ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Aura.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Aura, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Aura.

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 Aura:

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 Aura, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Aura) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.