RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Wayne County >> Fort Wayne >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Wayne (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 Wayne. 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 Wayne ...

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 Wayne: Ft. Wayne

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Fort Wayne. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Fort Wayne.

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 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.

Fort Wayne is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Macomb, Monroe, Oakland & Washtenaw.

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

  • Wayne County     (The home county of Fort Wayne)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Wayne, with the one closest to Fort Wayne listed first.
    • Springwells
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Springwells is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwells
      • Former name for Springwells:
      • Fordson
    • River Rouge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Detroit
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ecorse
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dearborn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Melvindale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hamtramck
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Allen Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wyandotte
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
    • Southgate
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Wayne, with the one closest to Fort Wayne listed first.
    • Dalton Corners ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Dalton Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Corners
    • Van Dyke ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Van Dyke is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Dyke
    • Center Line
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Warren
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Warren is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
      • Warren has also been known as:
      • Cottageville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
    • Eastpointe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Eastpointe is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastpointe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,720 people
      • Former names for Eastpointe:
      • East Detroit
      • Half-Way
      • Halfway
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eastpointe <1>
    • Spinnings ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Spinnings is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinnings
      • Spinnings has also been known as:
      • Spinning
    • Eagle Poine ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Eagle Poine is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Poine
    • Roseville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Clair Shores
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fraser
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Cady ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Cady is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
      • Cady has also been known as:
      • Cady's Corner
    • Plumb Brook ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Plumb Brook is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb Brook
      • Plumb Brook has also been known as:
      • Plum Brook
      • Plumbrook Village
      • Plumbrook
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Wayne, with the one closest to Fort Wayne listed first.
    • Flat Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • South Rockwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Estral Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Estral Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estral Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
    • Carleton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Grafton ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Grafton is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
    • Newport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Stony Point
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Stony Point is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Steiner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Steiner is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steiner
    • Scofield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Scofield is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scofield
    • Woodland Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodland Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Beach
    • Detroit Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Detroit Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Detroit Beach
    • Maybee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Wayne, with the one closest to Fort Wayne listed first.
    • Ferndale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Hazel Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Oak Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Huntington Woods
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Madison Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Royal Oak
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Southfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Berkley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Lathrup Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Clawson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Clarenceville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Clarenceville is located in Oakland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarenceville
  • Washtenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Wayne, with the one closest to Fort Wayne listed first.
    • Rawsonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Rawsonville is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawsonville
    • Willis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Salem
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Salem is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Ypsilanti
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Whittaker
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Whittaker is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittaker
    • Dixboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Dixboro is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixboro
    • Emery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Emery is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emery
    • Stony Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Stony Creek is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Wayne ...

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

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 Wayne - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Fort Wayne in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Fort Wayne.

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

  • Delray
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Delray is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
  • River Rouge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Detroit
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Ecorse
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Dearborn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Wyandotte
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Highland Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
  • Taylor Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Taylor Center is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Center
  • Sibley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sibley is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibley
  • Oak
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak
  • Conners Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Conners Creek is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conners Creek
  • Inkster
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Sunnyside
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Sunnyside is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Trenton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Grosse Pointe
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Wayne ...

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 588 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Wayne.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Wayne, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Wayne.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Fort Wayne:

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