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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 Highland Park (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 Highland Park. 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 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.

Highland Park is located in Kalamazoo 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 Kalamazoo County: Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Saint Joseph & Van Buren.

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

  • Kalamazoo County     (The home county of Highland Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • South Gull Lake
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Gull Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gull Lake
      • South Gull Lake is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Yorkville
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yorkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
      • Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yorkville
      • From Highland Park to Yorkville
    • Richland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Richland is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 847 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <3>
    • Augusta
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Galesburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • East Cooper
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Comstock
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comstock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
      • Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Parchment
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parchment have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parchment
      • Parchment is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,825 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parchment <3>
    • Eastwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
      • Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Climax
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Kalamazoo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Milwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Allegan County
  • Barry County
  • Branch County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • Level Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Oak Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Park. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Oak Park is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oak Park
      • From Highland Park to Oak Park
    • Fort Custer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Custer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
      • Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
      • Former name for Fort Custer:
      • Camp Custer
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fort Custer
      • From Highland Park to Fort Custer
    • Bedford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bedford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford
      • Bedford is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bedford <3>
    • Springfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
      • Springfield is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,184 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springfield <3>
    • Battle Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Verona Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Sonoma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sonoma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
      • Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sonoma
      • From Highland Park to Sonoma
    • West Leroy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownlee Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownlee Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee Park
      • Brownlee Park is located in Calhoun County
    • Pennfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Beadle Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Eaton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • Bellevue
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellevue have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
      • Bellevue is located in Eaton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,299 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellevue <3>
    • Ainger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Olivet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Carlisle
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Vermontville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vermontville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermontville
      • Vermontville is located in Eaton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 770 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vermontville <3>
    • Chester
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ionia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • Campbell Corners
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Lake Odessa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Odessa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Odessa
      • Lake Odessa is located in Ionia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,041 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Odessa <3>
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • Caledonia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Corinth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Corinth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
      • Corinth is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Corinth
      • From Highland Park to Corinth
  • Saint Joseph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • Factoryville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Leonidas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Mendon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mendon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
      • Mendon is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mendon <3>
    • Parkville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Chamberlain
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Colon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
      • Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <3>
    • Fairfax
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Park, with the one closest to Highland Park listed first.
    • Kendall
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • North Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lake
      • North Lake is located in Van Buren County
    • Almena
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Almena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
      • Almena is located in Van Buren County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Almena
      • From Highland Park to Almena
    • Mattawan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mattawan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattawan
      • Mattawan is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,973 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mattawan <3>
    • Gobles
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Lawton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
      • Lawton is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <3>
    • Paw Paw
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Glendale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Highland Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Highland Park.

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

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

  • Yorkville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yorkville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yorkville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prairie Home Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Charlotte Dewey Grave
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Charlotte Dewey Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Charlotte Dewey Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stony Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stony Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stony Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hickory Corners Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hickory Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hickory Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Howlandsburg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howlandsburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Howlandsburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Day Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Day Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Day Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Hickory Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Hickory Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Hickory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cressey Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cressey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cressey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Augusta Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Augusta Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Augusta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Cooper Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Shafter Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shafter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shafter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (283 more) ...
    • Oak Grove Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Post Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Post Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Post Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ft. Custer National Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Custer National Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Custer National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<5>

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

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

  • Yorkville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yorkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Yorkville
    • From Highland Park to Yorkville
  • Richland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Richland is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 847 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <3>
  • Hickory Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cressey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cressey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cressey
    • Cressey is located in Barry County
  • Richland Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Junction
    • Richland Junction is located in Kalamazoo County
  • East Cooper
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Prairieville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Galesburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Delton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Doster
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
    • Doster is located in Barry County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Doster
    • From Highland Park to Doster
  • Comstock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comstock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
    • Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
  • Banfield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Bedford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bedford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford
      • Bedford is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bedford <3>
    • Cedar Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cooper
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooper have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
      • Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County

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

Newspapers Published in Highland Park ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Highland Park.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Highland Park, 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 Highland Park.

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 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 Highland Park:

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

The official website for Kalamazoo County: www.kalcounty.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<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 Highland Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Highland Park) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Highland Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3962, Longitude: -85.4202    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025