RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Iron County >> Kiernan >> 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 Kiernan (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 Kiernan. 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 doctors 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.

Kiernan is located in Iron 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 Iron County: Baraga, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Marquette, Ontonagon, Florence (WI), Forest (WI) & Vilas (WI).

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

  • Iron County     (The home county of Kiernan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiernan, with the one closest to Kiernan listed first.
    • Mansfield ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mansfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
      • Mansfield is located in Iron County
    • Crystal Falls
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Clinch ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clinch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinch
      • Clinch is located in Iron County
    • Alpha
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mastodon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mastodon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mastodon
      • Mastodon is located in Iron County
    • Stager
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stager. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stager
      • Stager is located in Iron County
    • Amasa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Chicagon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chicagon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicagon
      • Chicagon is located in Iron County
    • Pentoga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentoga
      • Pentoga is located in Iron County
    • Bates Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bates Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates Junction
      • Bates Junction is located in Iron County
    • Gaastra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gaastra have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaastra
      • Gaastra is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaastra <2>
    • Caspian
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Baraga County
    • Nestoria
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nestoria
      • Nestoria is located in Baraga County
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiernan, with the one closest to Kiernan listed first.
    • Channing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Sagola
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Floodwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Floodwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floodwood
      • Floodwood is located in Dickinson County
    • Turner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Turner is located in Dickinson County
    • Ralph
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Felch Mountain
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felch Mountain
      • Felch Mountain is located in Dickinson County
    • Felch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Iron Mountain
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Kingsford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingsford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsford
      • Kingsford is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,923 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kingsford <2>
    • Foster City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster City
      • Foster City is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foster City <2>
    • Quinnesec
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Norway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway
      • Norway is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,714 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norway <2>
  • Marquette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiernan, with the one closest to Kiernan listed first.
    • Witbeck
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Witbeck. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witbeck
      • Witbeck is located in Marquette County
    • Republic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republic
      • Republic is located in Marquette County
    • Beacon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon
      • Beacon is located in Marquette County
    • Champion
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Michigamme
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigamme have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigamme
      • Michigamme is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Michigamme <2>
    • Humboldt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
      • Humboldt is located in Marquette County
    • Northland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Clarksburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksburg
      • Clarksburg is located in Marquette County
    • Clowry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clowry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clowry
      • Clowry is located in Marquette County
    • South Greenwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Greenwood
      • South Greenwood is located in Marquette County
      • South Greenwood has also been known as:
      • Greenwood Station
    • Reade
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Reade. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reade
      • Reade is located in Marquette County
    • Diorite
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diorite
      • Diorite is located in Marquette County
      • Diorite has also been known as:
      • Diotrite
  • Florence County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kiernan, with the one closest to Kiernan listed first.
    • Florence
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Commonwealth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Commonwealth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
      • Commonwealth is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Spread Eagle
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spread Eagle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spread Eagle
      • Spread Eagle is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Fern ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fern. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
      • Fern is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Aurora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Tipler
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipler
      • Tipler is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Marinette County (WI)
    • Niagara
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niagara have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niagara
      • Niagara is located in Marinette County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,535 people

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

Cemeteries Near Kiernan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kiernan.

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

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

  • Sagola Twp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Crystal Falls City Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crystal Falls City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crystal Falls City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hematite Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hematite Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hematite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Burial Ground
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Burial Ground
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Burial Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bates Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bates Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bates Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ralph Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ralph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ralph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Felch Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Felch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Felch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Republic Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Republic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Republic Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Republic.
  • Stambaugh Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Stambaugh Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stambaugh Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stambaugh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Iron River Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Iron Mtn. Cemetery Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Dickinson County Memorial Gardens Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickinson County Memorial Gardens Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickinson County Memorial Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

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

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

  • Mansfield ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mansfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
    • Mansfield is located in Iron County
  • Sagola
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Crystal Falls
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Panola
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Panola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
    • Panola is located in Iron County
  • Floodwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Floodwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floodwood
    • Floodwood is located in Dickinson County
  • Mastodon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mastodon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mastodon
    • Mastodon is located in Iron County
  • Randville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randville
    • Randville is located in Dickinson County
  • Stager
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stager. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stager
    • Stager is located in Iron County
  • Witbeck
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Witbeck. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witbeck
    • Witbeck is located in Marquette County
  • Amasa
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ridgetop
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ridgetop have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgetop
    • Ridgetop is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Florence
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Florence is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Granite Bluff
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Bluff
      • Granite Bluff is located in Dickinson County
    • Commonwealth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Commonwealth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
      • Commonwealth is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Merriman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merriman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merriman
      • Merriman is located in Dickinson County

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

Newspapers Published in Kiernan ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kiernan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kiernan, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kiernan.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Kiernan:

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

The official website for Iron County: www.iron.org/

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>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 Kiernan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Kiernan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kiernan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.1455, Longitude: -88.1799       In this case, the coordinates for Kiernan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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