RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Calhoun County >> Homer >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Michigan

The Commemorative Quarter for Michigan





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 Homer (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 Homer. 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 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.

Homer is located in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County: Barry, Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.

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

  • Calhoun County     (The home county of Homer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
    • Albion
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Marengo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tekonsha
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Marshall
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
      • Marshall is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,923 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marshall <1>
    • Rice Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Burlington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burlington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
    • Ceresco
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ceresco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceresco
      • Ceresco is located in Calhoun County
    • Duck Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Beadle Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Brownlee Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownlee Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee Park
      • Brownlee Park is located in Calhoun County
    • East Leroy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Leroy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
      • East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
    • Joppa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Branch County
  • Eaton County
  • Hillsdale County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
    • Litchfield
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Litchfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
      • Litchfield is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,328 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Litchfield <1>
    • Mosherville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosherville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosherville
      • Mosherville is located in Hillsdale County
    • Allen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
      • Allen is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <1>
    • Jonesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
      • Jonesville is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jonesville <1>
    • Moscow
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hillsdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • North Adams
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Adams have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Adams
      • North Adams is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Jerome
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jerome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
      • Jerome is located in Hillsdale County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jerome <1>
    • Somerset Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Reading
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Steamburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Osseo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Ingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
    • Onondaga
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Leslie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • North Leslie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Leslie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leslie
      • North Leslie is located in Ingham County
  • Jackson County
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
    • Climax
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Fulton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fulton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
      • Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Augusta
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lenawee County
  • Saint Joseph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
    • Factoryville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Factoryville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factoryville
      • Factoryville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Factoryville
      • From Homer to Factoryville
    • Colon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Leonidas
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Steuben County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
    • Ray
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Clear Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clear Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Steuben County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clear Lake
      • From Homer to Clear Lake
    • Fremont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Steuben County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <1>
    • Jamestown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Homer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Homer.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Homer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Homer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Homer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cook's Prairie Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cook's Prairie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cook's Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clarendon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarendon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clarendon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fisher Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fisher Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fisher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Albion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Albion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Albion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Albion Twp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Albion Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Albion Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clarks Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clarks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Saratoga Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saratoga Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saratoga Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Eckford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Eckford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Eckford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Babcock Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Babcock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Babcock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (341 more) ...
    • West Clarendon Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Clarendon Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Clarendon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Butler Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butler Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • West Concord Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)

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 Homer had a population of 1,063 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Homer had a population of 1,643 people.

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

  • Clarendon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarendon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarendon
    • Clarendon is located in Calhoun County
  • Condit
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Condit have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Condit
    • Condit is located in Calhoun County
  • Eckford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eckford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckford
    • Eckford is located in Calhoun County
  • Butler
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
    • Butler is located in Branch County
  • Litchfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Litchfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
    • Litchfield is located in Hillsdale County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,328 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Litchfield <1>
  • Albion
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Pulaski
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pulaski have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulaski
    • Pulaski is located in Jackson County
  • Concord
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Tekonsha
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Marengo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • South Butler
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Butler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Butler
    • South Butler is located in Branch County
  • Marshall
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
    • Marshall is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,923 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marshall <1>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Girard
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Allen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
      • Allen is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <1>
    • Jonesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
      • Jonesville is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jonesville <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Homer ...

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 78 newspapers that have been published in the area around Homer.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Homer, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Homer.

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 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 Homer:

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

The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhoun-mi.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>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 Homer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Homer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Homer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1439, Longitude: -84.8089    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025