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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 Iva (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 Iva. 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 hospitals 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.

Iva is located in Saginaw 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 Saginaw County: Bay, Clinton, Genesee, Gratiot, Midland, Shiawassee & Tuscola.

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

  • Saginaw County     (The home county of Iva)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva listed first.
    • Hemlock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Merrill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dice
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Frost
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Frost. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
      • Frost is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Frost
      • From Iva to Frost
    • Orr
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Orr. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
      • Orr is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Orr
      • From Iva to Orr
    • Freeland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeland
      • Freeland is located in Saginaw County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeland <1>
    • Lakefield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Nelson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Garfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garfield
      • From Iva to Garfield
    • Swan Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Shields
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shields. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shields
      • Shields is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shields
      • From Iva to Shields
    • Paines
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paines. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paines
      • Paines is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Paines
      • From Iva to Paines
    • Saint Charles
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Charles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles
      • Saint Charles is located in Saginaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Charles <1>
  • Bay County
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva listed first.
    • Elsie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Eureka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
      • Eureka is located in Clinton County
    • Duplain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Genesee County
  • Gladwin County
  • Gratiot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva listed first.
    • North Wheeler
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Wheeler have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wheeler
      • North Wheeler is located in Gratiot County
    • Wheeler
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheeler have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
      • Wheeler is located in Gratiot County
    • Breckenridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breckenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
      • Breckenridge is located in Gratiot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,265 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Breckenridge <1>
    • Edgewood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Edgewood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
      • Edgewood is located in Gratiot County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Edgewood
      • From Iva to Edgewood
    • Sickles
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Louis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Ithaca
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ithaca have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
      • Ithaca is located in Gratiot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,744 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ithaca <1>
    • North Star
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Alma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Gratiot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,807 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <1>
    • Forest Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Forest Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill
      • Forest Hill is located in Gratiot County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Forest Hill
      • From Iva to Forest Hill
    • Ashley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bannister
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Elwell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Isabella County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva listed first.
    • Coe
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coe
      • Coe is located in Isabella County
    • Alembic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shepherd
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jordan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jordan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
      • Jordan is located in Isabella County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jordan
      • From Iva to Jordan
    • Crawford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Strickland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Strickland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strickland
      • Strickland is located in Isabella County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Strickland
      • From Iva to Strickland
    • Rosebush
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Loomis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Midland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva listed first.
    • Ryan
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ryan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan
      • Ryan is located in Midland County
    • Porter
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Redstone
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Midland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Averill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Averill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averill
      • Averill is located in Midland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Averill
      • From Iva to Averill
    • Sanford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Oil City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oil City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
      • Oil City is located in Midland County
    • North Bradley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hope
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
      • Hope is located in Midland County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hope <1>
    • Alamando
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alamando. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamando
      • Alamando is located in Midland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alamando
      • From Iva to Alamando
    • Edenville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenville
      • Edenville is located in Midland County
    • Coleman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Shiawassee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva listed first.
    • Henderson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henderson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
      • Henderson is located in Shiawassee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henderson <1>
    • New Lothrop
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lothrop have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lothrop
      • New Lothrop is located in Shiawassee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Lothrop <1>
    • Smith Crossing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Tuscola County

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

Cemeteries Near Iva ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Iva.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Iva, with the one closest to Iva 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 Iva in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Iva.

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

  • Merrill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Frost
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Frost. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
    • Frost is located in Saginaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Frost
    • From Iva to Frost
  • Freeland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeland
    • Freeland is located in Saginaw County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeland <1>
  • Wheeler
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheeler have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Wheeler is located in Gratiot County
  • Nelson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Galloway
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galloway have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway
    • Galloway is located in Saginaw County
  • Garfield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
    • Garfield is located in Saginaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Garfield
    • From Iva to Garfield
  • Swan Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Porter
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Breckenridge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breckenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
    • Breckenridge is located in Gratiot County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,265 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Breckenridge <1>
  • Rathbone
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rathbone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathbone
    • Rathbone is located in Gratiot County
  • Midland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Saint Charles
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Charles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles
      • Saint Charles is located in Saginaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Charles <1>
    • Paines
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paines. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paines
      • Paines is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Paines
      • From Iva to Paines
    • Fisherville
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Iva. See our List of 1890's Communities around Iva.

Newspapers Published in Iva ...

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 120 newspapers that have been published in the area around Iva.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Iva, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Iva.

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 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 Iva:

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

The official website for Saginaw County: www.saginawcounty.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>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>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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Iva) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Iva. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4634, Longitude: -84.2696    
<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 Iva, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025