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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 Bay Park (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 Bay Park. 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 and 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.

Bay Park is located in Tuscola 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 Tuscola County: Bay, Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Saginaw & Sanilac.

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

  • Tuscola County     (The home county of Bay Park)
  • Arenac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Park, with the one closest to Bay Park listed first.
    • Saganing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Whites Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Au Gres
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Arenac
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arenac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arenac
      • Arenac is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arenac
      • From Bay Park to Arenac
    • Pine River
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pine River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine River
      • Pine River is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pine River
      • From Bay Park to Pine River
    • Standish
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standish have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
      • Standish is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,388 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Standish <1>
    • Omer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Omer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omer
      • Omer is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
  • Bay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Park, with the one closest to Bay Park listed first.
    • Munger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Munger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munger
      • Munger is located in Bay County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Munger <1>
    • Essexville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Essexville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essexville
      • Essexville is located in Bay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,244 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Essexville <1>
    • Banks ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Banks. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
      • Banks is located in Bay County
      • Banks has also been known as:
      • Bangor
      • Bank City
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Banks
      • From Bay Park to Banks
    • Wenona Beach ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Bay City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Wenona ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wenona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wenona
      • Wenona is located in Bay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wenona
      • From Bay Park to Wenona
    • West Bay City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Bay City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bay City
      • West Bay City is located in Bay County
      • West Bay City has also been known as:
      • West Bank City
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to West Bay City
      • From Bay Park to West Bay City
    • Brissette Beach
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Brooks ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brooks. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Brooks is located in Bay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brooks
      • From Bay Park to Brooks
    • Kawkawlin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Salzburg ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Salzburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salzburg
      • Salzburg is located in Bay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Salzburg
      • From Bay Park to Salzburg
    • Frankenlust
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Linwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Huron County
  • Lapeer County
    • Silverwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverwood
      • Silverwood is located in Lapeer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silverwood <1>
  • Saginaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Park, with the one closest to Bay Park listed first.
    • Reese
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reese have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reese
      • Reese is located in Saginaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,366 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reese <1>
    • Blumfield Corners
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Melbourne ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Melbourne. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melbourne
      • Melbourne is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Melbourne
      • From Bay Park to Melbourne
    • Crow Island ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Island
      • Crow Island is located in Saginaw County
    • Kochville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Zilwaukee city
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zilwaukee city. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zilwaukee city
      • Zilwaukee city is located in Saginaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,517 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Zilwaukee city
      • From Bay Park to Zilwaukee city
    • Buena Vista
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Carrollton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Frankenmuth
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Saginaw
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Bridgeport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Paines
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paines. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paines
      • Paines is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Paines
      • From Bay Park to Paines
    • Freeland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeland
      • Freeland is located in Saginaw County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeland <1>
  • Sanilac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Park, with the one closest to Bay Park listed first.
    • Hemans
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hemans. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemans
      • Hemans is located in Sanilac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hemans
      • From Bay Park to Hemans
    • Decker
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Bay Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bay Park.

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 Bay Park covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bay Park, with the one closest to Bay Park 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.<5>

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

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

  • Wisner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wisner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisner
    • Wisner is located in Tuscola County
  • Unionville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Quanicassee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quanicassee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quanicassee
    • Quanicassee is located in Tuscola County
  • Akron
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sebewaing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairgrove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairgrove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairgrove
    • Fairgrove is located in Tuscola County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairgrove <1>
  • Gilford
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Colwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colwood
    • Colwood is located in Tuscola County
  • Essexville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Essexville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essexville
    • Essexville is located in Bay County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,244 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Essexville <1>
  • Munger
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Munger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munger
    • Munger is located in Bay County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Munger <1>
  • Kilmanagh
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Reese
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reese have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reese
    • Reese is located in Saginaw County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,366 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reese <1>
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Watrousville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Caro
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ellington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellington
      • Ellington is located in Tuscola County

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

Newspapers Published in Bay Park ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bay Park.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bay Park, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bay Park.

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 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 Bay Park:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bay Park. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Tuscola County: www.tuscolacounty.org/

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

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>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.
<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 Bay Park, 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- Bay Park) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bay Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6555, Longitude: -83.5849    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025