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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 Forest Grove (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 Forest Grove. 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 Forest Grove ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Forest Grove: Forest Grv.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Forest Grove is located in Ottawa 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 Ottawa County: Allegan, Kent & Muskegon.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Forest Grove ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Grove.

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

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

  • Forest Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Star Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Star Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Star Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jamestown Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jamestown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jamestown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zutphen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zutphen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zutphen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Drenthe Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Drenthe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Drenthe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Drenthe Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Drenthe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Drenthe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Overisel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Overisel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Overisel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burnips Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burnips Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burnips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salem Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary's Catholic Church of New Salem Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Catholic Church of New Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Catholic Church of New Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shackhuddle Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shackhuddle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shackhuddle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Shackhuddle Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Hudsonville.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2158815 <4>
  • Old Vriesland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Vriesland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Vriesland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (263 more) ...
    • Van Dam Family Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Van Dam Family Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Van Dam Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • North Dorr Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Dorr Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Dorr Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Winegar Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winegar Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winegar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Forest Grove had a population of 78 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Gitchel
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gitchel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gitchel
    • Gitchel is located in Ottawa County
  • Zutphen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zutphen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zutphen
    • Zutphen is located in Ottawa County
  • Jamestown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Drenthe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Drenthe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenthe
    • Drenthe is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Drenthe
    • From Forest Grove to Drenthe
  • Oakland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
    • Oakland is located in Allegan County
  • New Salem
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Hudsonville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Vriesland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vriesland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vriesland
    • Vriesland is located in Ottawa County
  • North Dorr
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Dorr have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dorr
    • North Dorr is located in Kent County
  • South Blendon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Beaverdam
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaverdam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdam
    • Beaverdam is located in Ottawa County
  • Byron Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Overisel
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Overisel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overisel
      • Overisel is located in Allegan County
    • Bauer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bauer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bauer
      • Bauer is located in Ottawa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bauer
      • From Forest Grove to Bauer
    • Diamond Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 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 Forest Grove. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Grove.

Newspapers Published in Forest Grove ...

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 181 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Grove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Grove, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Grove.

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 Forest Grove:

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

The official website for Ottawa County: www.co.ottawa.mi.us/

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>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 Forest Grove, 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- Forest Grove) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Forest Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7967, Longitude: -85.8617    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025