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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 Charles (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 Charles. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Charles is located in Mackinac 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 Mackinac County: Chippewa, Luce & Schoolcraft.

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

  • Mackinac County     (The home county of Charles)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles, with the one closest to Charles listed first.
    • Pontchartrain Shores
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Pontchartrain Shores is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontchartrain Shores
    • Allenville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Allenville is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
    • Moran
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Simmons ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Simmons is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons
    • British Landing
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • British Landing is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for British Landing
    • Saint Ignace
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Mackinac Island
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Gros Cap
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Gros Cap is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gros Cap
    • Hessel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Kenneth
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Kenneth is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneth
    • Cedarville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Ozark
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Ozark is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozark
    • Port Dolomite
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Port Dolomite is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Dolomite
  • Cheboygan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles, with the one closest to Charles listed first.
    • Point Nipigon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Point Nipigon is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Nipigon
      • Point Nipigon has also been known as:
      • Point Nip-i-gon
    • Cheboygan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Riggsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles, with the one closest to Charles listed first.
    • Dryburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Dryburg is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryburg
    • Fibre
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Fibre is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fibre
    • Dick
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Dick is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
    • Rudyard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Pickford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Kinross
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Trout Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Stirlingville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stirlingville is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stirlingville
    • Stalwart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Stalwart is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stalwart
    • Brimley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Barbeau
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Dafter
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Dafter is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dafter
    • Strongs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Strongs is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strongs
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles, with the one closest to Charles listed first.
    • Mackinaw City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Carp Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bliss
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bliss is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
    • Levering
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Van
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Van is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
    • Cross Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Charles ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Charles.

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 Charles - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Charles covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Carp River Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Ignace Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Indian Burial Ground
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Indian Village Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Simmons Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Brevort Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Ignace's Catholic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Gros Gap Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Ft. Mackinac Post Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Mackinac Island Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (58 more) ...
    • St. Anns Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Italian Hill Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • St. Rudyard Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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.<2>

While we didn't find Charles in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Charles.

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

  • Moran
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Saint Ignace
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Mackinac Island
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
  • Hessel
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Cedarville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Rudyard
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Ozark
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ozark is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozark
  • Mackinaw City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Brevort
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Brevort is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevort
  • Pickford
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Freedom
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Freedom is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
  • Kinross
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Trout Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Stirlingville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stirlingville is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stirlingville
    • Carp Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Charles ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Charles.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Charles, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Charles.

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 Charles:

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>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 Charles, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Charles) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.