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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 Berkley (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 Berkley. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Berkley is located in Oakland 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 Oakland County: Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Washtenaw & Wayne.

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

  • Oakland County     (The home county of Berkley)
  • Lapeer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley listed first.
    • Almont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont
      • Almont is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,815 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almont <1>
    • Dryden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Metamora
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Livingston County
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley listed first.
    • Spinnings ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spinnings. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinnings
      • Spinnings is located in Macomb County
      • Spinnings has also been known as:
      • Spinning
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Spinnings
      • From Berkley to Spinnings
    • Warren
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Warren is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
      • Warren has also been known as:
      • Cottageville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
    • Center Line
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Line have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Line
      • Center Line is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,090 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Line <1>
    • Dalton Corners ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Van Dyke ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Dyke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Dyke
      • Van Dyke is located in Macomb County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Van Dyke
      • From Berkley to Van Dyke
    • Sterling Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sterling Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling Heights
      • Sterling Heights is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131,709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sterling Heights <1>
    • Shelby Village ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Cady ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Dresden Village ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Plumb Brook ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plumb Brook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb Brook
      • Plumb Brook is located in Macomb County
      • Plumb Brook has also been known as:
      • Plum Brook
      • Plumbrook Village
      • Plumbrook
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Plumb Brook
      • From Berkley to Plumb Brook
    • Red Run Corners ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Utica
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley listed first.
    • Flat Rock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • South Rockwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Rockwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rockwood
      • South Rockwood is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,648 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Rockwood <1>
  • Saint Clair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley listed first.
    • Anchorville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fair Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
      • Fair Haven is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fair Haven <1>
    • Pearl Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Perch Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Washtenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley listed first.
    • Salem
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Dixboro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rawsonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rawsonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawsonville
      • Rawsonville is located in Washtenaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rawsonville
      • From Berkley to Rawsonville
    • Emery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Emery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emery
      • Emery is located in Washtenaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Emery
      • From Berkley to Emery
    • Ypsilanti
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Willis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Willis is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <1>
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley listed first.
    • Strathmoor ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Strathmoor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathmoor
      • Strathmoor is located in Wayne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Strathmoor
      • From Berkley to Strathmoor
    • Highland Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Brightmoor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hamtramck
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Beech
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beech. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech
      • Beech is located in Wayne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Beech
      • From Berkley to Beech
    • Redford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redford
      • Redford is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Redford <1>
    • Livonia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dearborn Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dearborn Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearborn Heights
      • Dearborn Heights is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dearborn Heights <1>
    • Dearborn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Harper Woods
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harper Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper Woods
      • Harper Woods is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,651 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harper Woods <1>
    • Springwells
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Detroit
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Berkley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Berkley.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Berkley, with the one closest to Berkley 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 Berkley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Berkley.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Berkley ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Berkley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Berkley, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Berkley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Berkley:

The official website for Berkley: www.berkleymich.org/

The official website for Oakland County: www.co.oakland.mi.us/

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 Berkley, 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- Berkley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Berkley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5033, Longitude: -83.1839    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025