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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 Gibson Lake (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 Gibson Lake. 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 Gibson Lake ...

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 Gibson Lake: Gibson Lk.

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 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.

Gibson Lake is located in Iron 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 Iron County: Baraga, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Marquette, Ontonagon, Florence (WI), Forest (WI) & Vilas (WI).

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

  • Iron County     (The home county of Gibson Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibson Lake, with the one closest to Gibson Lake listed first.
    • Amasa
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clinch ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clinch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinch
      • Clinch is located in Iron County
    • Crystal Falls
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Chicagon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chicagon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicagon
      • Chicagon is located in Iron County
    • Alpha
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bates Junction
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bates Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates Junction
      • Bates Junction is located in Iron County
    • Iron River
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron River
      • Iron River is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,827 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iron River <1>
    • Mineral Hills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Hills
      • Mineral Hills is located in Iron County
    • Stambaugh
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stambaugh have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stambaugh
      • Stambaugh is located in Iron County
    • Atkinson ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atkinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
      • Atkinson is located in Iron County
    • Caspian
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Gaastra
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gaastra have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaastra
      • Gaastra is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaastra <1>
    • Gibbs City ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gibbs City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbs City
      • Gibbs City is located in Iron County
  • Baraga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibson Lake, with the one closest to Gibson Lake listed first.
    • Covington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
      • Covington is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Covington <1>
    • Watton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Watton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watton
      • Watton is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watton <1>
    • Nestoria
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nestoria
      • Nestoria is located in Baraga County
    • Alberta
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
      • Alberta is located in Baraga County
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibson Lake, with the one closest to Gibson Lake listed first.
    • Channing
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Sagola
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Turner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Turner is located in Dickinson County
  • Houghton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibson Lake, with the one closest to Gibson Lake listed first.
    • Sidnaw
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Kenton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenton
      • Kenton is located in Houghton County
  • Marquette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibson Lake, with the one closest to Gibson Lake listed first.
    • Republic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republic
      • Republic is located in Marquette County
    • Michigamme
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigamme have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigamme
      • Michigamme is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Michigamme <1>
    • Beacon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon
      • Beacon is located in Marquette County
    • Champion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Florence County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gibson Lake, with the one closest to Gibson Lake listed first.
    • Commonwealth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Commonwealth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
      • Commonwealth is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Florence
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Tipler
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipler
      • Tipler is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Fern ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
      • Fern is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Forest County (WI)
    • Nelma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelma
      • Nelma is located in Forest County (WI)

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

Newspapers Published in Gibson Lake ...

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 13 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gibson Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gibson Lake, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gibson Lake.

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 helpful 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 Gibson Lake:

Cemeteries Near Gibson Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gibson Lake.

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

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

  • Hematite Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hematite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hematite Cemetery
  • Bates Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bates Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bates Cemetery
  • Crystal Falls City Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crystal Falls City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crystal Falls City Cemetery
  • Indian Burial Ground
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Burial Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Burial Ground
  • Iron River Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Stambaugh Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Resthaven Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Resthaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Resthaven Cemetery
  • Stambaugh Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stambaugh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stambaugh Cemetery
  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Sagola Twp. Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Martin Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martin Cemetery
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Woodlawn Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
    • Lakeview Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Covington Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covington Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

  • Amasa
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Crystal Falls
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Panola
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Panola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
    • Panola is located in Iron County
  • Iron River
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron River
    • Iron River is located in Iron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,827 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iron River <1>
  • Stambaugh
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stambaugh have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stambaugh
    • Stambaugh is located in Iron County
  • Atkinson ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atkinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
    • Atkinson is located in Iron County
  • Mastodon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mastodon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mastodon
    • Mastodon is located in Iron County
  • Stager
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stager have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stager
    • Stager is located in Iron County
  • Mansfield ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mansfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
    • Mansfield is located in Iron County
  • Beechwood
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beechwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechwood
    • Beechwood is located in Iron County
  • Sagola
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Ridgetop
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ridgetop have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgetop
    • Ridgetop is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Floodwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floodwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floodwood
      • Floodwood is located in Dickinson County
    • Commonwealth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Commonwealth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
      • Commonwealth is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Florence
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Florence County (WI)

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

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

The official website for Iron County: www.iron.org/

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gibson Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gibson Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.2030, Longitude: -88.4301       In this case, the coordinates for Gibson Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Gibson Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024