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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 Hills (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 Hills. 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 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.

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

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

  • Kent County     (The home county of Forest Hills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Ada
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cannonsburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • East Grand Rapids
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lowell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Segwun
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Segwun is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Segwun
    • Parnell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Parnell is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnell
    • Kentwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Northview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Northview is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northview
    • Alto
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Dutton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Dutton is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
    • Grand Rapids
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Belmont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Clyde Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Clyde Park is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde Park
  • Allegan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Moline
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Moline is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
    • Dorr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Wayland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • New Salem
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • New Salem is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
    • Burnips
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Burnips is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnips
      • Former name for Burnips:
      • Burnip's Corners
    • Hilliards
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Hilliards is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilliards
    • Bradley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bradley is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
    • Shelbyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Hopkins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Diamond Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Diamond Springs is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Springs
    • Martin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • South Monterey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • South Monterey is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Monterey
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Freeport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Middleville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Irving
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Irving is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
    • Hastings
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodland is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
    • Morgan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Morgan is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
    • Cloverdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Cloverdale is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Eaton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Woodbury
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodbury is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury
    • Sunfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Ionia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Elmdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Elmdale is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
    • Smyrna
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Saranac
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Clarksville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Belding
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Campbell Corners
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Campbell Corners is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Corners
    • Orleans
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Orleans is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
    • Ionia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • South Ionia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • South Ionia is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ionia
    • Lake Odessa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Woods Corners
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Woods Corners is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Corners
    • Shiloh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Shiloh is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • West Sebewa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • West Sebewa is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sebewa
  • Montcalm County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Greenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Eureka Place
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Eureka Place is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Place
    • Gowen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Amsden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Amsden is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsden
    • Pierson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Fenwick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Fenwick is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
    • Trufant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Sidney
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Langston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Langston is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langston
    • Sheridan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Coral
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Howard City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Stanton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Muskegon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Canada Corners
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Canada Corners is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada Corners
    • Bailey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ravenna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Slocum
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Slocum is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slocum
  • Newaygo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Sun
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sun is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
    • Ashland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Ashland is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Grant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ottawa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Hills, with the one closest to Forest Hills listed first.
    • Jenison
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Marne
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Wright
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Wright is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
    • Jamestown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jamestown is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
    • Hudsonville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Forest Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Forest Grove is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
    • Bauer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Bauer is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bauer
    • Lamont
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Lamont is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamont
    • Conklin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest Grove Station
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Forest Grove Station is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove Station
    • South Blendon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • South Blendon is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Blendon
    • Allendale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Coopersville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Forest Hills ...

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

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 Forest Hills - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Ada Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Findlay Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Graceland Mausoleum
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Martin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Teeple Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cascade Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Little Cook Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Rolfe Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Snow Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Krum Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Vergennes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (296 more) ...
    • Wright Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Mason Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Ada
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Cascade
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cascade is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • East Paris
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • East Paris is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paris
  • Whitneyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Whitneyville is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitneyville
  • Chauncey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Chauncey is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chauncey
  • Cannonsburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Lowell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Parnell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Parnell is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnell
  • Alaska
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Alaska is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
  • Fallassburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Fallassburg is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallassburg
  • Alton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Alton is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
  • Dutton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Dutton is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Alto
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Grand Rapids
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Labarge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Labarge is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Labarge

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

Newspapers Published in Forest Hills ...

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 276 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Hills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Hills, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Hills.

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 Forest Hills:

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>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.
<3>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 Hills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Forest Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.