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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 Hesperia (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 Hesperia. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Hesperia is primarily located in Oceana County. A portion of Hesperia extends into Newaygo 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 Oceana County: Lake, Mason, Muskegon & Newaygo.

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

  • Oceana County     (The home county of Hesperia)
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hesperia, with the one closest to Hesperia listed first.
    • Casnovia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casnovia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casnovia
      • Casnovia is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casnovia <2>
    • Kent City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent City
      • Kent City is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent City <2>
  • Lake County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hesperia, with the one closest to Hesperia listed first.
    • Carr
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Fern
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
      • Fern is located in Mason County
      • Fern has also been known as:
      • Adamsville
    • Wiley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Walhalla
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Custer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Meisenheimer Corners
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Tallman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tallman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallman
      • Tallman is located in Mason County
      • Tallman has also been known as:
      • Weaver
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tallman
      • From Hesperia to Tallman
    • Scottville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Batcheller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batcheller
      • Batcheller is located in Mason County
      • Batcheller has also been known as:
      • Turtle Lake
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Batcheller
      • From Hesperia to Batcheller
    • Amber
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Mecosta County
  • Muskegon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hesperia, with the one closest to Hesperia listed first.
    • Brunswick
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brunswick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
      • Brunswick is located in Muskegon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brunswick
      • From Hesperia to Brunswick
    • Holton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holton
      • Holton is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holton <2>
    • Twin Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakewood Club
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Club have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Club
      • Lakewood Club is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,292 people
    • Whitehall
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Montague
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montague have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague
      • Montague is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,365 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montague <2>
    • Dalton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Wolf Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Muskegon County
    • Morgan Corners
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Bailey
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bailey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey
      • Bailey is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bailey <2>
    • Sylvan Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Wabaningo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wabaningo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabaningo
      • Wabaningo is located in Muskegon County
    • Canada Corners
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Newaygo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hesperia, with the one closest to Hesperia listed first.
    • Huber
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Aetna
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Reeman
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fremont
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Newaygo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
      • Former name for Fremont:
      • Fremont Center
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <2>
    • Wooster
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wooster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooster
      • Wooster is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wooster
      • From Hesperia to Wooster
    • Brookside
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brookside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
      • Brookside is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brookside
      • From Hesperia to Brookside
    • Ramona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ramona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramona
      • Ramona is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ramona
      • From Hesperia to Ramona
    • Bishop
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • White Cloud
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Brohman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodland Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sitka
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sitka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
      • Sitka is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sitka
      • From Hesperia to Sitka
    • Bitely
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Hesperia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hesperia.

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

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

  • East Hesperia Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Hesperia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Hesperia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christ the King Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Hesperia Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Hesperia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Hesperia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dayton Center Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Bull Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bull Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bull Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Huber Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Huber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Huber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodward Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodward Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clark Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evans Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evans Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evans Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goodrich Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodrich Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodrich Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (181 more) ...
    • St. Michaels Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michaels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Maple Grove Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hesperia had a population of 506 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Hesperia had a population of 936 people.

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

  • Aetna
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Fremont
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
    • Fremont is located in Newaygo County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
    • Former name for Fremont:
    • Fremont Center
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <2>
  • Volney
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Volney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volney
    • Volney is located in Newaygo County
  • Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Holton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holton
    • Holton is located in Muskegon County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holton <2>
  • Brookside
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brookside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
    • Brookside is located in Newaygo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Brookside
    • From Hesperia to Brookside
  • Cobmoosa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cobmoosa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
    • Cobmoosa is located in Oceana County
    • Cobmoosa has also been known as:
    • Cob Moo Sa
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Cobmoosa
    • From Hesperia to Cobmoosa
  • Alleyton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alleyton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alleyton
    • Alleyton is located in Newaygo County
  • Elbridge
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elbridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
    • Elbridge is located in Oceana County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Elbridge
    • From Hesperia to Elbridge
  • White Cloud
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Brohman
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Rothbury
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Twin Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Newaygo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newaygo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaygo
      • Newaygo is located in Newaygo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,099 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newaygo <2>
    • Bitely
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hesperia ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hesperia.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hesperia. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hesperia and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hesperia.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Hesperia.

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 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 Hesperia:

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

The official website for Oceana County: www.oceana.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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Hesperia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Hesperia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hesperia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5686, Longitude: -86.0397    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 06 Aug 2025