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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 Harper Woods (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 Harper Woods. 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 and 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.

Harper Woods is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Macomb, Monroe, Oakland & Washtenaw.

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

  • Wayne County     (The home county of Harper Woods)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper Woods, with the one closest to Harper Woods listed first.
    • Grosse Pointe Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Grosse Pointe Shores
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Grosse Pointe Farms
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Grosse Pointe
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grosse Pointe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grosse Pointe
      • Grosse Pointe is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grosse Pointe <1>
    • Grosse Pointe Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grosse Pointe Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grosse Pointe Park
      • Grosse Pointe Park is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,972 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grosse Pointe Park <1>
    • Hamtramck
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
    • Detroit
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Springwells
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwells
      • Springwells is located in Wayne County
      • Former name for Springwells:
      • Fordson
    • Strathmoor ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Strathmoor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathmoor
      • Strathmoor is located in Wayne County
    • Dearborn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • River Rouge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brightmoor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightmoor
      • Brightmoor is located in Wayne County
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper Woods, with the one closest to Harper Woods listed first.
    • Eastpointe
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastpointe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastpointe
      • Eastpointe is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,720 people
      • Former names for Eastpointe:
      • East Detroit
      • Half-Way
      • Halfway
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eastpointe <1>
    • Eagle Poine ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eagle Poine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Poine
      • Eagle Poine is located in Macomb County
    • Roseville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Saint Clair Shores
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Center Line
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Line have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Line
      • Center Line is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,090 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Line <1>
    • Dalton Corners ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dalton Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Corners
      • Dalton Corners is located in Macomb County
    • Van Dyke ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Dyke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Dyke
      • Van Dyke is located in Macomb County
    • Warren
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Warren is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
      • Warren has also been known as:
      • Cottageville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
    • Fraser
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraser have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraser
      • Fraser is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,331 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fraser <1>
    • Quinn ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Quinn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinn
      • Quinn is located in Macomb County
    • Cady ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
      • Cady is located in Macomb County
      • Cady has also been known as:
      • Cady's Corner
    • Liverpool ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Liverpool. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liverpool
      • Liverpool is located in Macomb County
    • Spinnings ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spinnings. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinnings
      • Spinnings is located in Macomb County
      • Spinnings has also been known as:
      • Spinning
  • Monroe County
    • Flat Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
      • Flat Rock is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,959 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flat Rock <1>
  • Oakland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper Woods, with the one closest to Harper Woods listed first.
    • Hazel Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Madison Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Ferndale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Royal Oak
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Huntington Woods
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Big Beaver
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
      • Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
    • Clawson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Berkley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Oak Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Lathrup Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Southfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Birmingham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Clair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper Woods, with the one closest to Harper Woods listed first.
    • Anchorville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorville
      • Anchorville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Fair Haven
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
      • Fair Haven is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fair Haven <1>
    • Pearl Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearl Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl Beach
      • Pearl Beach is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl Beach <1>
    • Grande Pointe
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grande Pointe
      • Grande Pointe is located in Saint Clair County
    • Perch Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perch Point
      • Perch Point is located in Saint Clair County
    • Algonac
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algonac
      • Algonac is located in Saint Clair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,034 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Algonac <1>
    • Starville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starville
      • Starville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Casco
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casco
      • Casco is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casco <1>
    • Broadbridge Station
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadbridge Station
      • Broadbridge Station is located in Saint Clair County
    • Peters
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
      • Peters is located in Saint Clair County
    • Adair
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adair have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair
      • Adair is located in Saint Clair County
    • Belle River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
      • Belle River is located in Saint Clair County
    • Marine City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marine City
      • Marine City is located in Saint Clair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,035 people
      • Former names for Marine City:
      • Cottrellville
      • Marine
      • Newport
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marine City <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Harper Woods ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harper Woods.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Harper Woods. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Harper Woods and those printed in the larger area surrounding Harper Woods.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4> of Harper Woods.

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 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 Harper Woods:

Cemeteries Near Harper Woods ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harper Woods.

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 Harper Woods covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Assumption Grotto Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Assumption Grotto Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Assumption Grotto Catholic Cemetery
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
  • St. Peter's Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Immanuel Methodist Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Gethsemane Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Kiwanis Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kiwanis Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kiwanis Park Cemetery
  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Lawn Cemetery
  • B'nai-David Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the B'nai-David Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The B'nai-David Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bnai-David Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the B'nai-David Cemetery
  • St. Gertrude Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Clement Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (293 more) ...
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Sacred Heart of St. Mary Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Trinity Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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.<6>

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

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

  • Conners Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conners Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conners Creek
    • Conners Creek is located in Wayne County
  • Grosse Pointe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grosse Pointe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grosse Pointe
    • Grosse Pointe is located in Wayne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,122 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grosse Pointe <1>
  • Roseville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Warren
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
    • Warren is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
    • Warren has also been known as:
    • Cottageville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
  • Fraser
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraser have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraser
    • Fraser is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,331 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fraser <1>
  • Highland Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
    • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
  • Cady ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
    • Cady is located in Macomb County
    • Cady has also been known as:
    • Cady's Corner
  • Detroit
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Mount Clemens
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clemens
    • Mount Clemens is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,013 people
    • Former names for Mount Clemens:
    • Big Springs
    • High Banks
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Clemens <1>
  • Royal Oak
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Delray
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Delray have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
    • Delray is located in Wayne County
  • Big Beaver
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
    • Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Clawson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Dearborn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Utica
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
      • Utica is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,062 people
      • Former names for Utica:
      • Hog Hollow
      • McDougalville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Utica <1>

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

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

The official website for Wayne County: www.waynecounty.com/

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>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.
<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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Harper Woods) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harper Woods. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4381, Longitude: -82.9283       In this case, the coordinates for Harper Woods 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 Harper Woods, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024