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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 Berne (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 Berne. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Berne is located in Huron 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 Huron County: Sanilac & Tuscola.

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

  • Huron County     (The home county of Berne)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berne, with the one closest to Berne listed first.
    • Pigeon
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Ora Labora
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ora Labora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora Labora
      • Ora Labora is located in Huron County
      • Ora Labora has also been known as:
      • Ora et Labora
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ora Labora
      • From Berne to Ora Labora
    • Elkton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Bay Port
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Caseville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Kilmanagh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Owendale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owendale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owendale
      • Owendale is located in Huron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Owendale <1>
    • Valley Island
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinnebog
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pinnebog. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnebog
      • Pinnebog is located in Huron County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pinnebog
      • From Berne to Pinnebog
    • Bach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Sebewaing
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bad Axe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bad Axe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bad Axe
      • Bad Axe is located in Huron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,889 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bad Axe <1>
  • Arenac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berne, with the one closest to Berne listed first.
    • Harmon City Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmon City Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmon City Heights
      • Harmon City Heights is located in Arenac County
    • Au Gres
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Sanilac County
  • Tuscola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berne, with the one closest to Berne listed first.
    • Gagetown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gagetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gagetown
      • Gagetown is located in Tuscola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gagetown <1>
    • Unionville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cass City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cass City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cass City
      • Cass City is located in Tuscola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,273 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cass City <1>
    • Elmwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Colling
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Colling. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colling
      • Colling is located in Tuscola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Colling
      • From Berne to Colling
    • Bay Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Akron
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Deford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Caro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Fairgrove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Wilmot
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Wahjamega
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wahjamega. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahjamega
      • Wahjamega is located in Tuscola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wahjamega
      • From Berne to Wahjamega

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

Cemeteries Near Berne ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Berne.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Berne, with the one closest to Berne 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Berne had a population of 125 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Pigeon
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Elkton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Bay Port
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Caseville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Kilmanagh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Owendale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owendale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owendale
    • Owendale is located in Huron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Owendale <1>
  • Popple
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Popple have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popple
    • Popple is located in Huron County
  • Pinnebog
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pinnebog. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnebog
    • Pinnebog is located in Huron County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pinnebog
    • From Berne to Pinnebog
  • Sebewaing
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gagetown
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gagetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gagetown
    • Gagetown is located in Tuscola County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gagetown <1>
  • Bad Axe
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bad Axe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bad Axe
    • Bad Axe is located in Huron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,889 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bad Axe <1>
  • Filion
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Berne ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Berne.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Berne, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Berne.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Berne:

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

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 Berne, 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' (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- Berne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Berne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8446, Longitude: -83.2698       In this case, the coordinates for Berne have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025