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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 Hamlin 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 Hamlin 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 Hamlin 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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Hamlin Lake: Hamlin 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Hamlin Lake is located in Mason 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 Mason County: Lake, Manistee, Newaygo & Oceana.

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

  • Mason County     (The home county of Hamlin Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hamlin Lake, with the one closest to Hamlin Lake listed first.
    • Piney Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Piney Ridge is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Ridge
    • Ludington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Buttersville ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Buttersville is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttersville
    • White Pine Village ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • White Pine Village is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pine Village
    • Sugar Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Sugar Grove is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
      • Sugar Grove has also been known as:
      • Clark's Corners
    • Amber
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Amber is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
      • Amber has also been known as:
      • Slaughtburg
    • Scottville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Scottville is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,209 people
      • Scottville has also been known as:
      • Mason Center
      • Sweetland
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scottville <1>
    • Elm Flats ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Elm Flats is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Flats
    • Meisenheimer Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Meisenheimer Corners is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meisenheimer Corners
    • Custer
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Custer is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
      • Former names for Custer:
      • Black Creek
      • Ferryville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Custer <1>
    • Fountain
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Free Soil
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hamlin Lake, with the one closest to Hamlin Lake listed first.
    • Sauble
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Sauble is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauble
    • Irons
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Peacock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Peacock is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
  • Manistee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hamlin Lake, with the one closest to Hamlin Lake listed first.
    • Filer City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Filer City is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filer City
    • Oak Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Hill is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
      • Oak Hill has also been known as:
      • Oakhill
    • Manistee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Eastlake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Eastlake is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastlake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
    • Parkdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Parkdale is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
    • Douglas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Douglas is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
    • Udell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Udell is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udell
    • Onekama Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Onekama Junction is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama Junction
    • Norwalk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Norwalk is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwalk
    • Onekama
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chief Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
    • Dublin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Dublin is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin
  • Oceana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hamlin Lake, with the one closest to Hamlin Lake listed first.
    • Pentwater
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • French Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • French Town is located in Oceana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Town
    • Hart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Hart is located in Oceana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,089 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hart <1>
    • Mears
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Elbridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Elbridge is located in Oceana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
    • Cobmoosa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cobmoosa is located in Oceana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
      • Cobmoosa has also been known as:
      • Cob Moo Sa
    • Walkerville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shelby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Hamlin Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hamlin 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.

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 Hamlin Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hamlin Lake, with the one closest to Hamlin Lake 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.<4>

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

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

  • Ludington
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Buttersville ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Buttersville is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttersville
  • Amber
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Amber is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
    • Amber has also been known as:
    • Slaughtburg
  • Sugar Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Sugar Grove is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
    • Sugar Grove has also been known as:
    • Clark's Corners
  • Riverton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverton is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
  • Scottville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Scottville is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,209 people
    • Scottville has also been known as:
    • Mason Center
    • Sweetland
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scottville <1>
  • Custer
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Custer is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
    • Former names for Custer:
    • Black Creek
    • Ferryville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Custer <1>
  • Fountain
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Free Soil
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Wiley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wiley is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiley
    • Wiley has also been known as:
    • Wileys
  • Stronach
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Stronach is located in Manistee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stronach
  • Filer City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Filer City is located in Manistee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filer City
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Oak Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Hill is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
      • Oak Hill has also been known as:
      • Oakhill
    • Pentwater
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Fern
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Fern is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
      • Fern has also been known as:
      • Adamsville

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

Newspapers Published in Hamlin 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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hamlin Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hamlin Lake, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hamlin 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 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 Hamlin Lake:

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>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- Hamlin Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Hamlin Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.