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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 Grand Haven (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 Grand Haven. 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 Grand Haven ...

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 Grand Haven: Grand Hvn. (or less commonly used: Grand Havn.)

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 doctors 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.

Grand Haven is located in Ottawa County and is the County Seat.

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 Ottawa County: Allegan, Kent & Muskegon.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Grand Haven ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grand Haven.

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 Grand Haven covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Lake Forest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Forest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Forest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Lake Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grand Haven Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Haven Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Haven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nunica Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nunica Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nunica Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fruitport Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fruitport Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fruitport Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cobmosay Grave
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cobmosay Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cobmosay Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Norton Shores Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norton Shores Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norton Shores Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mona View Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mona View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mona View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Robinson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robinson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robinson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (162 more) ...
    • Ottawa Center Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ottawa Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ottawa Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lakeside Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • West Olive Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Olive Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Grand Haven had a population of 5,023 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Grand Haven had a population of 11,040 people.

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

  • Spring Lake
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Spring Lake is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,504 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Lake <2>
  • Ferrysburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferrysburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrysburg
    • Ferrysburg is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,022 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferrysburg <2>
  • Fruitport
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitport
    • Fruitport is located in Muskegon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,165 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitport <2>
  • Agnew
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Robinson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Robinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Robinson is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Robinson
    • From Grand Haven to Robinson
  • Nunica
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nunica have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nunica
    • Nunica is located in Ottawa County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nunica <2>
  • Cloverville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverville
    • Cloverville is located in Muskegon County
  • Muskegon Heights
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • West Olive
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Muskegon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Olive Center
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Center
    • Olive Center is located in Ottawa County
  • Dennison
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dennison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennison
    • Dennison is located in Ottawa County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Grand Haven ...

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 162 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grand Haven.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Grand Haven. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Grand Haven and those printed in the larger area surrounding Grand Haven.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Grand Haven.

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 Grand Haven:

The official website for Grand Haven: www.grandhaven.org/

The official website for Ottawa County: www.co.ottawa.mi.us/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Grand Haven, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Grand Haven) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grand Haven. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0625, Longitude: -86.2262    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025