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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 Idlewild (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 Idlewild. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Idlewild is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola & Wexford.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Idlewild)
  • Manistee County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
    • Carr
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Millerton
      • From Idlewild to Millerton
    • Walhalla
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Tallman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • 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 Idlewild to Tallman
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • 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 Idlewild to Batcheller
    • Custer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Fountain
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Elm Flats ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Flats. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Flats
      • Elm Flats is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elm Flats
      • From Idlewild to Elm Flats
    • Scottville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Wiley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Free Soil
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugar Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Amber
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Mecosta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
    • Paris
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Rapids
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rapids
      • Big Rapids is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,408 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Rapids <2>
    • Pogy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pogy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pogy
      • Pogy is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pogy
      • From Idlewild to Pogy
    • Chippewa Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Rodney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rodney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodney
      • Rodney is located in Mecosta County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rodney <2>
    • Stanwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Borland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Borland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borland
      • Borland is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Borland
      • From Idlewild to Borland
  • Newaygo County
  • Oceana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
    • Walkerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cobmoosa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 Idlewild to Cobmoosa
    • Elbridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 Idlewild to Elbridge
    • Hesperia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hesperia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
      • Hesperia is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 936 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <2>
    • Ferry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
    • Reed City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Ashton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
      • Ashton is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashton
      • From Idlewild to Ashton
    • Hersey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hersey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hersey
      • Hersey is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hersey <2>
    • Le Roy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Tustin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
      • Tustin is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <2>
    • Evart
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evart have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evart
      • Evart is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evart <2>
    • Dighton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Avondale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
      • Avondale is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avondale
      • From Idlewild to Avondale
    • Sears
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sears have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears
      • Sears is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sears <2>
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild listed first.
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
      • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
      • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
      • Clay Hill
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hoxeyville
      • From Idlewild to Hoxeyville
    • Benson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Boon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
      • Boon is located in Wexford County
    • Harrietta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrietta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietta
      • Harrietta is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrietta <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Idlewild ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Idlewild.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Idlewild, with the one closest to Idlewild 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.<6>

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

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

  • Nirvana
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Baldwin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Chase
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Wolf Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • 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 Lake County
  • Lilley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lilley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilley
    • Lilley is located in Newaygo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lilley
    • From Idlewild to Lilley
  • Bitely
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Hawkins
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Luther
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Reed City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Orono
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orono have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orono
    • Orono is located in Osceola County
  • Brohman
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Sauble
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sauble. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauble
    • Sauble is located in Lake County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sauble
    • From Idlewild to Sauble
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ashton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
      • Ashton is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashton
      • From Idlewild to Ashton
    • Woodville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
      • Woodville is located in Newaygo County
    • Paris
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Idlewild ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Idlewild.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Idlewild. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Idlewild and those printed in the larger area surrounding Idlewild.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5> of Idlewild.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Idlewild:

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

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>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>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 from Point A (ie- Idlewild) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Idlewild. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8947, Longitude: -85.7873    
<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 Idlewild, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025