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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 Bristol (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 Bristol. 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.

Bristol is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola & Wexford.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Bristol)
  • Grand Traverse County
    • Walton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Walton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walton
      • Walton is located in Grand Traverse County
      • Walton has also been known as:
      • Walton Junction
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Walton
      • From Bristol to Walton
  • Manistee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Dublin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Wellston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Brethren
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brethren have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brethren
      • Brethren is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brethren <1>
    • Udell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Harlan ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harlan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
      • Harlan is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harlan
      • From Bristol to Harlan
    • Kaleva
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kaleva have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaleva
      • Kaleva is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kaleva <1>
    • Pomona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pomona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
      • Pomona is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pomona
      • From Bristol to Pomona
    • Chief Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chief Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
      • Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chief Lake
      • From Bristol to Chief Lake
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Millerton
      • From Bristol to Millerton
    • Carr
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carr
      • Carr is located in Mason County
      • Carr has also been known as:
      • Carr Settlement
      • McCumber Settlement
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carr
      • From Bristol to Carr
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Batcheller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batcheller
      • Batcheller is located in Mason County
      • Batcheller has also been known as:
      • Turtle Lake
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Batcheller
      • From Bristol to Batcheller
    • Tallman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tallman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallman
      • Tallman is located in Mason County
      • Tallman has also been known as:
      • Weaver
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tallman
      • From Bristol to Tallman
    • Walhalla
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Mecosta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Paris
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Pogy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pogy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pogy
      • Pogy is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pogy
      • From Bristol to Pogy
    • Big Rapids
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rapids
      • Big Rapids is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,408 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Rapids <1>
    • Chippewa Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Missaukee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Lucas
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Stoney Corner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • McBain
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jennings
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Falmouth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
      • Falmouth is located in Missaukee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falmouth <1>
    • Vogel Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Cutcheon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cutcheon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutcheon
      • Cutcheon is located in Missaukee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cutcheon
      • From Bristol to Cutcheon
  • Newaygo County
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Tustin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
      • Tustin is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <1>
    • Le Roy
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
      • Ashton is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashton
      • From Bristol to Ashton
    • Dighton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Highland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Reed City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Avondale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
      • Avondale is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avondale
      • From Bristol to Avondale
    • Park Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hersey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hersey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hersey
      • Hersey is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hersey <1>
    • Evart
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evart have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evart
      • Evart is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evart <1>
    • Marion
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Sears
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sears have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears
      • Sears is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sears <1>
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol listed first.
    • Benson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
      • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
      • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
      • Clay Hill
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hoxeyville
      • From Bristol to Hoxeyville
    • Boon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
      • Boon is located in Wexford County
    • Cadillac
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Haring
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrietta
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrietta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietta
      • Harrietta is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrietta <1>
    • Missaukee Junction
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Meauwataka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bond's Mills ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Yuma
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma
      • Yuma is located in Wexford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuma
      • From Bristol to Yuma
    • Mesick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesick have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesick
      • Mesick is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesick <1>
    • Sherman
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Bristol ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bristol.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bristol, with the one closest to Bristol 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bristol had a population of 42 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Luther
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Tustin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
    • Tustin is located in Osceola County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <1>
  • Le Roy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hobart
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobart have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart
    • Hobart is located in Wexford County
  • Benson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
    • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
    • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
    • Clay Hill
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hoxeyville
    • From Bristol to Hoxeyville
  • Ashton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
    • Ashton is located in Osceola County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ashton
    • From Bristol to Ashton
  • Orono
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orono have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orono
    • Orono is located in Osceola County
  • Dighton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Millersville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
    • Millersville is located in Wexford County
  • Boon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
    • Boon is located in Wexford County
  • Cadillac
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wolf Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Lake County
    • Chase
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Nirvana
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Bristol ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bristol.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bristol, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bristol.

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 Bristol:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bristol. 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bristol) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bristol. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1036, Longitude: -85.5839    
<5>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.
<6>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 Bristol, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025