RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Saint Clair County >> Avalon Beach >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Avalon Beach (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 Avalon Beach. 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.

Name Variations for Avalon Beach ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Avalon Beach: Avalon Bch.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Avalon Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Avalon Beach.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Avalon Beach is located in Saint Clair 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 Saint Clair County: Lapeer, Macomb & Sanilac.

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

  • Saint Clair County     (The home county of Avalon Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avalon Beach, with the one closest to Avalon Beach listed first.
    • Broadbridge Station
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Broadbridge Station is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadbridge Station
    • Marine City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Marine City is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marine City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,035 people
      • Former names for Marine City:
      • Cottrellville
      • Marine
      • Newport
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marine City <1>
    • East China
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Algonac
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Algonac is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algonac
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,034 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Algonac <1>
    • Starville ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Starville is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starville
    • Perch Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Perch Point is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perch Point
    • Grande Pointe
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Grande Pointe is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grande Pointe
    • Pearl Beach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Peters
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Peters is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
    • Fair Haven
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Adair
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Adair is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair
    • Casco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Anchorville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Anchorville is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorville
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avalon Beach, with the one closest to Avalon Beach listed first.
    • New Baltimore
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • New Baltimore is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,281 people
      • Former names for New Baltimore:
      • Ashley
      • Ashleyville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Baltimore <1>
    • Muttonville ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Muttonville is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muttonville
    • Lottivue
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Lottivue is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottivue
    • Belvidere ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Belvidere is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
      • Former name for Belvidere:
      • Huron Point
    • Anchor Bay Harbor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Anchor Bay Harbor is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor Bay Harbor
    • New Haven
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • New Haven is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Haven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,061 people
      • Former names for New Haven:
      • New Baltimore Station
      • New Haven Station
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Haven <1>
    • Bates Corner ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bates Corner is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates Corner
    • Beebe's Corners ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Beebe's Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe's Corners
    • Coopertown ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Coopertown is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopertown
    • Richmond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Anchor Bay Gardens ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Anchor Bay Gardens is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor Bay Gardens
    • Milton ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Milton is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Anchor Bay Shores
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Anchor Bay Shores is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor Bay Shores
  • Oakland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avalon Beach, with the one closest to Avalon Beach listed first.
    • Yates
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Yates is located in Oakland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates
    • Stony Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Stony Creek is located in Oakland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
      • Stony Creek has also been known as:
      • Stoney Creek Village
      • Stoney Creek
      • Stony Creek Village
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avalon Beach, with the one closest to Avalon Beach listed first.
    • Grosse Pointe Shores
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Grosse Pointe Woods
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grosse Pointe Farms
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Harper Woods
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Conners Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Conners Creek is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conners Creek
    • Grosse Pointe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Grosse Pointe Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Avalon Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Avalon Beach.

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 Avalon Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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.<3>

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

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

  • Roberts Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Roberts Landing is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Landing
  • Marine City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Marine City is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marine City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,035 people
    • Former names for Marine City:
    • Cottrellville
    • Marine
    • Newport
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marine City <1>
  • Algonac
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Algonac is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algonac
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,034 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Algonac <1>
  • Starville ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Starville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starville
  • Fair Haven
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Saint Clair
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Adair
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Adair is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair
  • Casco
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Anchorville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Anchorville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorville
  • New Baltimore
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • New Baltimore is located in Macomb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,281 people
    • Former names for New Baltimore:
    • Ashley
    • Ashleyville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Baltimore <1>
  • Rattle Run
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Rattle Run is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rattle Run
  • Belle River
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Belle River is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • New Haven
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • New Haven is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Haven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,061 people
      • Former names for New Haven:
      • New Baltimore Station
      • New Haven Station
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Haven <1>
    • Columbus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Marysville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Avalon Beach ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Avalon Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Avalon Beach, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Avalon Beach.

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 Avalon Beach:

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>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 Avalon Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Avalon Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.