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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 Decatur (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 Decatur. 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.

Decatur is located in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County: Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.

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

  • Van Buren County     (The home county of Decatur)
  • Allegan County
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
    • Naomi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naomi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
      • Naomi is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Naomi
      • From Decatur to Naomi
    • Watervliet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Paw Paw Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Coloma
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Berrien Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrien Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrien Center
      • Berrien Center is located in Berrien County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berrien Center <2>
    • Eau Claire
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eau Claire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eau Claire
      • Eau Claire is located in Berrien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eau Claire <2>
    • Shanghai Corners
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Hartman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hartman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
      • Hartman is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hartman
      • From Decatur to Hartman
    • Sodus
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sodus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
      • Sodus is located in Berrien County
    • Twelve Corners
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Berrien Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrien Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrien Springs
      • Berrien Springs is located in Berrien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berrien Springs <2>
    • Lake Michigan Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Michigan Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Michigan Beach
      • Lake Michigan Beach is located in Berrien County
    • Riverside
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Riverside
      • From Decatur to Riverside
  • Cass County
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
    • Schoolcraft
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Oshtemo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Portage
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Westwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Vicksburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Alamo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kalamazoo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Milwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
      • Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Parchment
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parchment have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parchment
      • Parchment is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,825 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parchment <2>
    • Pavillion Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Comstock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comstock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
      • Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
    • East Cooper
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Cooper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cooper
      • East Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to East Cooper
      • From Decatur to East Cooper
  • Saint Joseph County
  • Elkhart County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
    • Simonton Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Simonton Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Lake
      • Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County (IN)
    • Bristol
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Garden Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
      • Garden Village is located in Elkhart County (IN)
    • Elkhart
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Saint Joseph County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
    • Granger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Georgetown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Georgetown is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
    • Indian Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
      • Indian Village is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
    • Roseland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
      • Roseland is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people

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

Cemeteries Near Decatur ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Decatur.

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

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

  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harrison Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harrison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harrison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Charleston Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Charleston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Charleston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Anderson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Anderson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Threemile Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Threemile Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Threemile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hamilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Wayne Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Wayne Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Wayne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crane Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prospect Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prospect Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prospect Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Wayne Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Wayne Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Wayne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chamberlin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chamberlin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chamberlin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (302 more) ...
    • White Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Haight Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haight Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haight Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Prospect Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prospect Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prospect Hill 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Decatur had a population of 1,109 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Decatur had a population of 1,716 people.

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

  • Glenwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Glenwood is located in Cass County
  • Volinia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Volinia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volinia
    • Volinia is located in Cass County
  • Lawton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
    • Lawton is located in Van Buren County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <2>
  • Lawrence
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Paw Paw
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Wakelee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wakelee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
    • Wakelee is located in Cass County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Wakelee
    • From Decatur to Wakelee
  • Marcellus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sister Lakes
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sister Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sister Lakes
    • Sister Lakes is located in Van Buren County
  • Dowagiac
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • La Grange
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Penn
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Hartford
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Mattawan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mattawan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattawan
      • Mattawan is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,973 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mattawan <2>
    • Cassopolis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Vandalia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vandalia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
      • Vandalia is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Decatur ...

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 Decatur.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Decatur. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Decatur and those printed in the larger area surrounding Decatur.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5> of Decatur.

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 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 Decatur:

The official website for Decatur: www.decaturmi.org/

The official website for Van Buren County: www.vbco.org/

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>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 Decatur, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Decatur) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Decatur. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1087, Longitude: -85.9743    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 18 Aug 2025