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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 Helena (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 Helena. 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 doctors and 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.

Helena is located in Marquette 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 Marquette County: Alger, Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Iron & Menominee.

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

  • Marquette County     (The home county of Helena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • McFarland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Carlshend
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carlshend. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlshend
      • Carlshend is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carlshend
      • From Helena to Carlshend
    • Little Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake
      • Little Lake is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Lake <3>
    • Gwinn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Austin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Skandia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skandia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skandia
      • Skandia is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skandia <3>
    • New Dalton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Dalton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Dalton
      • New Dalton is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Dalton
      • From Helena to New Dalton
    • Sands
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Arnold
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnold have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <3>
    • Watson ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gentian
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gentian. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentian
      • Gentian is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gentian
      • From Helena to Gentian
    • Reade
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Reade. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reade
      • Reade is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Reade
      • From Helena to Reade
    • Northland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Alger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Diffin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Diffin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diffin
      • Diffin is located in Alger County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Diffin
      • From Helena to Diffin
    • Dorsey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dorsey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorsey
      • Dorsey is located in Alger County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dorsey
      • From Helena to Dorsey
    • Traunik
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Trenary
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trenary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenary
      • Trenary is located in Alger County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenary <3>
    • Rumely
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Eben Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eben Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eben Junction
      • Eben Junction is located in Alger County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eben Junction <3>
    • Chatham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Deerton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Slapneck ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slapneck have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slapneck
      • Slapneck is located in Alger County
    • Onota
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Onota. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onota
      • Onota is located in Alger County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Onota
      • From Helena to Onota
    • Au Train
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Munising Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Delta County
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • Ralph
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Foster City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster City
      • Foster City is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foster City <3>
    • Felch Mountain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Felch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Turner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Turner is located in Dickinson County
  • Menominee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena listed first.
    • LaBranche
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dryads ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dryads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryads
      • Dryads is located in Menominee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dryads
      • From Helena to Dryads
    • Perronville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Helena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Helena.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Helena, with the one closest to Helena 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.<5>

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

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

  • McFarland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Lathrop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lathrop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lathrop
    • Lathrop is located in Delta County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lathrop
    • From Helena to Lathrop
  • Little Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake
    • Little Lake is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Lake <3>
  • Swanzy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swanzy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanzy
    • Swanzy is located in Marquette County
  • Plains
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains
    • Plains is located in Marquette County
  • Rock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Campbell
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Campbell is located in Delta County
  • Sands
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Beaver
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaver. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
    • Beaver is located in Delta County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Beaver
    • From Helena to Beaver
  • Gordon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Gordon is located in Marquette County
  • Harvey
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
    • Harvey is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harvey <3>
  • Perkins
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Helena ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Helena.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Helena, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Helena.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Helena:

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

The official website for Marquette County: www.co.marquette.mi.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Helena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Helena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Helena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.2160, Longitude: -87.2712       In this case, the coordinates for Helena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025