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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 Fort Holmes (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 Fort Holmes. 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 Fort Holmes ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Holmes: Ft. Holmes

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Fort Holmes 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 Fort Holmes. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fort Holmes:

  • Mackinac County     (The home county of Fort Holmes)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Holmes, with the one closest to Fort Holmes listed first.
    • Mackinac Island
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • British Landing
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • British Landing is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for British Landing
    • Saint Ignace
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pointe Aux Pins
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Gros Cap
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Gros Cap is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gros Cap
    • Pontchartrain Shores
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Pontchartrain Shores is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontchartrain Shores
    • Hessel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Allenville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Allenville is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
    • Moran
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Simmons ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Simmons is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons
    • Port Dolomite
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 Fort Holmes, with the one closest to Fort Holmes listed first.
    • Point Nipigon
      (10 miles [16.1 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
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Riggsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville
    • Mullett Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Mullett Lake is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullett Lake
    • Silver Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Silver Beach is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Long Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Long Point is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
    • Veery Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Veery Point is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veery Point
    • Topinabee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Giauque Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Giauque Beach is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giauque Beach
    • Burt Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Indian River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Holmes, with the one closest to Fort Holmes listed first.
    • Pickford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Dryburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Dryburg is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryburg
    • Fibre
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Fibre is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fibre
    • Stalwart
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Stalwart is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stalwart
    • Rudyard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Dick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dick is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
    • Stirlingville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stirlingville is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stirlingville
    • Goetzville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Kinross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Trout Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Holmes, with the one closest to Fort Holmes listed first.
    • Mackinaw City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Carp Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Bliss
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Bliss is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
    • Levering
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Van
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Van is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
    • Pellston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Marsh Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Marsh Corner is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Corner
    • Cross Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Brutus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Alanson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Stutsmanville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Stutsmanville is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stutsmanville

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Holmes ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Holmes.

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 Fort Holmes - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Ft. Mackinac Post Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mackinac Island Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • St. Ignace's Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Mackinaw City Bible Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Burial Ground
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • McRae Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Gros Gap Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Sailors & Indians Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Olive Church Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (68 more) ...
    • Carp River Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Ignace Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hebron Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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.<2>

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

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

  • Mackinac Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
  • Saint Ignace
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Mackinaw City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Freedom
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Freedom is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
  • Pointe Aux Pins
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Carp Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hessel
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Moran
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedarville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Cheboygan
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Bliss
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bliss is located in Emmet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
  • Levering
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Riggsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville
    • Mullett Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Mullett Lake is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullett Lake
    • Pellston
      (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 Fort Holmes. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fort Holmes.

Newspapers Published in Fort Holmes ...

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 Fort Holmes.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Holmes, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Holmes.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Fort Holmes:

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 Fort Holmes, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fort Holmes) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.