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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 Caledonia (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 Caledonia. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Caledonia is located in Kent 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 Kent County: Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo & Ottawa.

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

  • Kent County     (The home county of Caledonia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Caledonia, with the one closest to Caledonia listed first.
    • Dutton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kentwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentwood
      • Kentwood is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,719 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kentwood <2>
    • Corinth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Corinth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
      • Corinth is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Corinth
      • From Caledonia to Corinth
    • Alto
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
      • Alto is located in Kent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <2>
    • Cutlerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cutlerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutlerville
      • Cutlerville is located in Kent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cutlerville <2>
    • Carlisle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carlisle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
      • Carlisle is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carlisle
      • From Caledonia to Carlisle
    • Byron Center
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Ada
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Ada is located in Kent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <2>
    • Forest Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hills
      • Forest Hills is located in Kent County
    • Clyde Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • East Grand Rapids
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Burlingame
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • North Dorr
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Dorr have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dorr
      • North Dorr is located in Kent County
  • Allegan County
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Caledonia, with the one closest to Caledonia listed first.
    • Middleville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleville
      • Middleville is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middleville <2>
    • Irving
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Freeport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
    • Hastings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cloverdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Woodland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Prairieville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Delton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Morgan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Morgan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
      • Morgan is located in Barry County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Morgan
      • From Caledonia to Morgan
    • Doster
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
      • Doster is located in Barry County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Doster
      • From Caledonia to Doster
    • Dowling
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Nashville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
      • Nashville is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,696 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashville <2>
  • Calhoun County
    • Bedford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bedford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford
      • Bedford is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bedford <2>
  • Eaton County
  • Ionia County
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Caledonia, with the one closest to Caledonia listed first.
    • Highland Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Richland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Richland is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 847 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <2>
    • South Gull Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Gull Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gull Lake
      • South Gull Lake is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Yorkville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yorkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
      • Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yorkville
      • From Caledonia to Yorkville
    • Alamo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • East Cooper
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Montcalm County
    • Greenville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
      • Greenville is located in Montcalm County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,386 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <2>
  • Ottawa County

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

Cemeteries Near Caledonia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Caledonia.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Caledonia, with the one closest to Caledonia listed first.

  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Caledonia Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Caledonia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Caledonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Corners Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Parmalee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parmalee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parmalee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barber Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Daniels Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Daniels Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Daniels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alaska Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alaska Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alaska Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Patrick's Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patrick's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patrick's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dutton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dutton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (306 more) ...
    • Whitneyville Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitneyville Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitneyville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • South Gaines Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Gaines Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Gaines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Caledonia in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Caledonia.

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

  • Labarge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Labarge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Labarge
    • Labarge is located in Kent County
  • Alaska
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alaska have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
    • Alaska is located in Kent County
  • Dutton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Middleville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleville
    • Middleville is located in Barry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,510 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middleville <2>
  • Corning
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
    • Corning is located in Allegan County
  • Whitneyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitneyville
    • Whitneyville is located in Kent County
  • Corinth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Corinth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
    • Corinth is located in Kent County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Corinth
    • From Caledonia to Corinth
  • Moline
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • East Paris
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Paris have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paris
    • East Paris is located in Kent County
  • Irving
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Alto
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
    • Alto is located in Kent County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <2>
  • Cascade
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cascade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
    • Cascade is located in Kent County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Carlisle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carlisle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
      • Carlisle is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carlisle
      • From Caledonia to Carlisle
    • Bowens Mill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowens Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowens Mill
      • Bowens Mill is located in Barry County
    • Ross
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ross have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
      • Ross is located in Kent County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Caledonia ...

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 244 newspapers that have been published in the area around Caledonia.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Caledonia. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Caledonia and those printed in the larger area surrounding Caledonia.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6> of Caledonia.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Caledonia:

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

The official website for Kent County: www.accesskent.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Caledonia, 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 from Point A (ie- Caledonia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Caledonia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7892, Longitude: -85.5167    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025