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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 Lake Michigan Beach (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 Lake Michigan Beach. 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.

Name Variations for Lake Michigan Beach ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Michigan Beach: Lk. Michigan Bch.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Lake Michigan Beach is located in Berrien 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 Berrien County: LaPorte (IN), Saint Joseph (IN), Cass & Van Buren.

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

  • Berrien County     (The home county of Lake Michigan Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Michigan Beach, with the one closest to Lake Michigan Beach listed first.
    • Riverside
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Berrien County
    • Coloma
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Paw Paw Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw Lake
      • Paw Paw Lake is located in Berrien County
    • Twelve Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twelve Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
      • Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
    • Mizpah Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mizpah Park
      • Mizpah Park is located in Berrien County
    • Watervliet
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Benton Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Heights
      • Benton Heights is located in Berrien County
    • Benton Harbor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fair Plain
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Plain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Plain
      • Fair Plain is located in Berrien County
    • Saint Joseph
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Scottdale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottdale
      • Scottdale is located in Berrien County
    • Sodus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sodus have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
      • Sodus is located in Berrien County
  • Allegan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Michigan Beach, with the one closest to Lake Michigan Beach listed first.
    • Miami Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami Park
      • Miami Park is located in Allegan County
      • Miami Park has also been known as:
      • Miami Park Beach
      • Miomi Park Beach
    • Mount Pleasant
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Allegan County
    • South Haven Highlands
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Bluff
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
      • Cedar Bluff is located in Allegan County
    • Glenn Haven Shores
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Haven Shores
      • Glenn Haven Shores is located in Allegan County
      • Glenn Haven Shores has also been known as:
      • Hollywood
    • Hawkhead
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkhead
      • Hawkhead is located in Allegan County
    • Glenn Shores
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Shores
      • Glenn Shores is located in Allegan County
      • Glenn Shores has also been known as:
      • Glenn Stores
    • Leisure
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure
      • Leisure is located in Allegan County
      • Leisure has also been known as:
      • East Casco
    • Glenn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Spring Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spring Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
      • Spring Grove is located in Allegan County
    • Pullman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Ganges
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganges
      • Ganges is located in Allegan County
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Michigan Beach, with the one closest to Lake Michigan Beach listed first.
    • Dowagiac
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sumnerville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumnerville
      • Sumnerville is located in Cass County
    • Pokagon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pokagon
      • Pokagon is located in Cass County
    • La Grange
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
      • La Grange is located in Cass County
    • Cassopolis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Penn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
      • Penn is located in Cass County
    • Wakelee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wakelee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
      • Wakelee is located in Cass County
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Michigan Beach, with the one closest to Lake Michigan Beach listed first.
    • Fish Corners
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Corners
      • Fish Corners is located in Van Buren County
    • Covert
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hartford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • South Haven
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Bangor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
      • Bangor is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangor <2>
    • Lawrence
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Kibbie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibbie
      • Kibbie is located in Van Buren County
    • Breedsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lacota
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacota
      • Lacota is located in Van Buren County
    • Bloomingdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Decatur
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Decatur have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
      • Decatur is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,716 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Michigan Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Michigan Beach.

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 Lake Michigan Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • North Shore Memory Garden
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Shore Memory Garden
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Shore Memory Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harris Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harris Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Curtis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Curtis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Curtis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coloma Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coloma Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Coloma Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Coloma.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #270670 <4>
  • Lake Shore Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Shore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Shore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Boyer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boyer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boyer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fish Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kniebes Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emmanuel Home Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmanuel Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmanuel Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Millburg Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Millburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Millburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (178 more) ...
    • St. Pauls UCC Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls UCC Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls UCC Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Watervliet Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watervliet Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watervliet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Morton Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morton Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morton 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 Lake Michigan Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lake Michigan Beach.

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

  • Riverside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Riverside is located in Berrien County
  • Coloma
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Twelve Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twelve Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
    • Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
  • Millburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millburg
    • Millburg is located in Berrien County
  • Watervliet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Toquin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toquin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toquin
    • Toquin is located in Van Buren County
  • Covert
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Benton Harbor
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Spinks Corners
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spinks Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinks Corners
    • Spinks Corners is located in Berrien County
  • Saint Joseph
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Hartford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • McDonald
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonald have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
    • McDonald is located in Van Buren County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Vineland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
      • Vineland is located in Berrien County
    • Sodus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sodus have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
      • Sodus is located in Berrien County
    • Naomi
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naomi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
      • Naomi is located in Berrien County

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Michigan Beach ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Michigan Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Michigan Beach, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Michigan Beach.

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 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 Lake Michigan Beach:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lake Michigan Beach. 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>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 Lake Michigan Beach, 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- Lake Michigan Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Michigan Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2209, Longitude: -86.3695       In this case, the coordinates for Lake Michigan Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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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.

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025