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 Birch 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 Birch 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 Birch 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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Birch Beach: Birch Bch.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Birch Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Birch 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 doctors and hospitals 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.
Birch Beach is located in Sanilac 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 Sanilac County: Huron, Lapeer, Saint Clair & Tuscola.
Below are the counties that are near Birch Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Birch Beach:
- Sanilac County (The home county of Birch Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Birch Beach, with the one closest to Birch Beach listed first.
- Lexington Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Lexington Heights is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Heights
- Amadore ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Amadore is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amadore
- Lexington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Croswell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Roseburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Roseburg is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseburg
- Applegate
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Speaker
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Speaker is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speaker
- Port Sanilac
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Peck
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Peck is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peck
- Population from the 2020 Census: 588 people
- Carsonville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cash
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cash is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
- Melvin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Melvin is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
- Watertown
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Watertown is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
- Lapeer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Birch Beach, with the one closest to Birch Beach listed first.
- Brown City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Burnside
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Burnside is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnside
- Macomb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Birch Beach, with the one closest to Birch Beach listed first.
- Memphis
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Memphis is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,170 people
- Former name for Memphis:
- Well's Settlement
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Memphis <1>
- Doyle ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Doyle is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyle
- Bates Corner ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bates Corner is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates Corner
- Beebe's Corners ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Beebe's Corners is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe's Corners
- Coopertown ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Coopertown is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopertown
- Richmond
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Muttonville ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Muttonville is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muttonville
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Birch Beach, with the one closest to Birch Beach listed first.
- North Lakeport
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- North Lakeport is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeport
- Jeddo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jeddo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
- Lakeport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lakeport is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeport
- Former name for Lakeport:
- Milwaukee City
- Blaine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Blaine is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
- North Street
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Atkins
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Atkins is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
- Gardendale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Gardendale is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
- Ruby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ruby is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Avoca
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Wadhams
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Wadhams is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadhams
- Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Brockway
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Brockway is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockway
- Yale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Yale is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,861 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yale <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Birch Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Birch Beach.
Cemeteries Near Birch Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Birch 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 Birch Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Birch Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Birch Beach, with the one closest to Birch Beach listed first.
- Castor Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Carman Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bardwell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Diamond Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lakeview Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the southwest of Lexington.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #898 <2>
- Locke Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jeddo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- St. Lawrence Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lexington Municipal Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lexington Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Wixson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Denis Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Denis Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Denis Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Lexington.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1590 <2>
- Continue List (157 more) ...
- Lakeport Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeport Cemetery
- The Lakeport Cemetery has also been known as:
- Burtchville Twp. Cemetery
- South Chapel Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2256969 <2>
- Huckins Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Worth Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Birch Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Birch Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Birch Beach, with the one closest to Birch Beach listed first.
- Amadore ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Amadore is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amadore
- Lexington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jeddo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jeddo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
- Blaine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Blaine is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
- Lakeport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lakeport is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeport
- Former name for Lakeport:
- Milwaukee City
- Croswell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- North Street
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Fargo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fargo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargo
- Atkins
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Atkins is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
- Roseburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Roseburg is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseburg
- Ruby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ruby is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Applegate
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Avoca
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Abbotsford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Abbotsford is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbotsford
- Wadhams
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Wadhams is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadhams
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Birch Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Birch Beach.
Newspapers Published in Birch 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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Birch Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Birch Beach, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Birch Beach.
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 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 Birch Beach:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Sanilac County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Lapeer County
- Macomb County
- Saint Clair County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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> | 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- Birch Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Birch Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |