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 Gourley (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 Gourley. 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 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.
Gourley is located in Menominee 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 Menominee County: Delta, Dickinson, Marquette, Door (WI) & Marinette (WI).
Below are the counties that are near Gourley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gourley:
- Menominee County (The home county of Gourley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Carney
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Nadeau
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Nadeau is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nadeau
- Indiantown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Indiantown is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiantown
- Indiantown has also been known as:
- Indian Town
- Wilson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Wilson is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
- Harris
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Powers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Spalding
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Spalding is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spalding
- Hermansville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hermansville is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermansville
- Daggett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Daggett is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daggett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
- Perronville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Perronville is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perronville
- Banat
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Banat is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banat
- Blom
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Blom is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blom
- Delta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Bark River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Narenta
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Narenta is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narenta
- Schaffer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Schaffer is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaffer
- Ford River
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ford River is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford River
- Hyde
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hyde is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyde
- Flat Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Flat Rock is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Escanaba
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wells
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wells is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells
- Groos
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Groos is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groos
- Larch
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Larch is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larch
- Chandler
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Chandler is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler
- Cornell
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Dickinson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Loretto
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Vulcan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Norway
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Foster City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marquette County
- Watson ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Watson is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- Door County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Washington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Washington is located in Door County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington
- Gills Rock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gills Rock is located in Door County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gills Rock
- Ellison Bay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ellison Bay is located in Door County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellison Bay
- Marinette County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Pembine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Pembine is located in Marinette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pembine
- Cedarville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Cedarville is located in Marinette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Wausaukee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wausaukee is located in Marinette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wausaukee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Niagara
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Niagara is located in Marinette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niagara
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,535 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gourley, see our County-by-County Page for Gourley.
Cemeteries Near Gourley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gourley.
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 Gourley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gourley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hannahville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Harris Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Swedish Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Carney Village Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wilson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bark River Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Spalding Twp. Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar River Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (47 more) ...
- South Ford River Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- South Fork River Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Daggett Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
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 Gourley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Gourley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gourley, with the one closest to Gourley listed first.
- Nadeau
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Nadeau is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nadeau
- Carney
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bagley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bagley is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
- Indiantown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Indiantown is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiantown
- Indiantown has also been known as:
- Indian Town
- Houle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Houle is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houle
- Houle has also been known as:
- Houles
- Wilson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Wilson is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
- Powers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bark River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Talbot
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Talbot is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talbot
- Hermansville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hermansville is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermansville
- Daggett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Daggett is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daggett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
- Narenta
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Narenta is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narenta
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Schaffer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Schaffer is located in Delta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaffer
- Eustis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Eustis is located in Menominee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eustis
- Cedar River
(13 miles [20.9 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 Gourley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gourley.
Newspapers Published in Gourley ...
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 Gourley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gourley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gourley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Gourley:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Menominee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Delta County
- Dickinson County
- Marquette County
- Door County
- Marinette County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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 Gourley, 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- Gourley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |