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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 Elkhorn (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 Elkhorn. 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 Elkhorn ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Another variation: Elk Horn.

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.

Elkhorn is located in Schoolcraft 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 Schoolcraft County: Alger, Delta, Luce & Mackinac.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Elkhorn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elkhorn.

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

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

  • Cooks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cooks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cooks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Cooks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Cooks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Cooks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Seventh-day Adventist Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seventh-day Adventist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seventh-day Adventist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Garden Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Garden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Garden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Farley Grave Site
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farley Grave Site
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farley Grave Site have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cousineau - Potvin Family Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cousineau - Potvin Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cousineau - Potvin Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Isabella Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Isabella Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Isabella Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bailey Family Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bailey Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bailey Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kates Bay Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kates Bay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kates Bay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Byers Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Byers Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Byers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hiawatha Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hiawatha Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hiawatha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Nahma Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nahma Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nahma 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 Elkhorn in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Elkhorn.

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

  • Cooks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks
    • Cooks is located in Schoolcraft County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cooks <2>
  • Thompson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Thompson is located in Schoolcraft County
  • Manistique
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Isabella
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Nahma
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nahma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nahma
    • Nahma is located in Delta County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nahma <2>
  • Garden
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Ogontz
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ogontz. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogontz
    • Ogontz is located in Delta County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ogontz
    • From Elkhorn to Ogontz
  • Gulliver
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Fayette ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Ensign
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ensign have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ensign
      • Ensign is located in Delta County
    • Rapid River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Creighton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Creighton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creighton
      • Creighton is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Creighton
      • From Elkhorn to Creighton
    • Shingleton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Masonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Masonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masonville
      • Masonville is located in Delta County
    • Kipling
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Elkhorn ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elkhorn.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elkhorn, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elkhorn.

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 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 Elkhorn:

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

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 Elkhorn, 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' (or 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- Elkhorn) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elkhorn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.9546, Longitude: -86.4063    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025