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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 Ledge (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 Ledge. 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 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.

Grand Ledge is primarily located in Eaton County. A portion of Grand Ledge extends into Clinton 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 Eaton County: Barry, Calhoun, Clinton, Ingham, Ionia & Jackson.

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

  • Eaton County     (The home county of Grand Ledge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Waverly
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Waverly is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
    • West Windsor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • West Windsor is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Windsor
    • Millett
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Millett is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millett
      • Millett has also been known as:
      • Milletts
    • Needmore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Needmore is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
    • Mulliken
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Potterville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Dimondale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gresham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gresham is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
    • Stalls Corner
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Stalls Corner is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stalls Corner
    • Little Venice
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Venice is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Venice
    • Kingsland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Kingsland is located in Eaton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsland
    • Sunfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Woodland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Woodland is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
    • Nashville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Maple Grove is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
    • Morgan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Morgan is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
    • Freeport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Hastings
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Dowling
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Dowling is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowling
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Duck Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Duck Lake is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Lake
    • Rice Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Rice Creek is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Creek
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Eagle
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clinton Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Clinton Village is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton Village
    • De Witt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gunnisonville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Gunnisonville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunnisonville
    • Westphalia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • East DeWitt
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • East DeWitt is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East DeWitt
    • Bath
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Fowler
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Price
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Price is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
    • Saint Johns
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Shepardsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Shepardsville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepardsville
    • Maple Rapids
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Maple Rapids is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Rapids
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
  • Gratiot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Middleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Perrinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Perrinton is located in Gratiot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 391 people
    • Pompeii
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Ingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Edgemont Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Edgemont Park is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont Park
    • Lansing
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • North Lansing
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • North Lansing is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lansing
    • East Lansing
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Holt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Okemos
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Haslett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Mason
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Meridian
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Meridian is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Pollok ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pollok is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollok
      • Pollok has also been known as:
      • Pollock
    • Onondaga
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • North Leslie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • North Leslie is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leslie
  • Ionia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Portland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • West Sebewa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • West Sebewa is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sebewa
    • Pewamo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lyons
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Muir
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Odessa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Matherton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Matherton is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matherton
    • Ionia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • South Ionia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • South Ionia is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ionia
    • Hubbardston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Campbell Corners
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Campbell Corners is located in Ionia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Corners
    • Clarksville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Springport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Berryville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Berryville is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
    • Tompkins
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Tompkins is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
    • Devereaux
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Devereaux is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devereaux
    • Rives Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rives Junction is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives Junction
  • Montcalm County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Carson City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Butternut
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Butternut is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butternut
  • Shiawassee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge listed first.
    • Laingsburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Shaftsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Shaftsburg is located in Shiawassee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaftsburg
    • Perry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Perry is located in Shiawassee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,075 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perry <1>
    • Morrice
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Burton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Burton is located in Shiawassee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burton

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

Cemeteries Near Grand Ledge ...

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

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 Grand Ledge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Grand Ledge, with the one closest to Grand Ledge 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Grand Ledge had a population of 1,606 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Grand Ledge had a population of 7,881 people.

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

  • Eagle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Wacousta
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Wacousta is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wacousta
  • West Windsor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • West Windsor is located in Eaton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Windsor
  • Millett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Millett is located in Eaton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millett
    • Millett has also been known as:
    • Milletts
  • Mulliken
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Hoytville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hoytville is located in Eaton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoytville
  • Potterville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Dimondale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Packard
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Packard is located in Eaton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packard
  • South Riley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • South Riley is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Riley
  • Lansing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Gresham
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gresham is located in Eaton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • North Lansing
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • North Lansing is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lansing
    • De Witt
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Riley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Riley is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riley

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Grand Ledge ...

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 296 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grand Ledge.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Grand Ledge. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Grand Ledge and those printed in the larger area surrounding Grand Ledge.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Grand Ledge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Ledge:

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 Grand Ledge, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Grand Ledge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.