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.
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 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 may 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)
- Riverside is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Coloma
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Paw Paw Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Paw Paw Lake is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw Lake
- Twelve Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
- Mizpah Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mizpah Park is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mizpah Park
- Watervliet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Benton Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Benton Heights is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Heights
- Benton Harbor
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fair Plain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fair Plain is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Plain
- Saint Joseph
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Scottdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Scottdale is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottdale
- Sodus
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Sodus is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
- 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)
- Miami Park is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami Park
- Miami Park has also been known as:
- Miami Park Beach
- Miomi Park Beach
- Mount Pleasant
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- South Haven Highlands
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Cedar Bluff
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Cedar Bluff is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Glenn Haven Shores
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Glenn Haven Shores is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Haven Shores
- Glenn Haven Shores has also been known as:
- Hollywood
- Hawkhead
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hawkhead is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkhead
- Glenn Shores
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Glenn Shores is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Shores
- Glenn Shores has also been known as:
- Glenn Stores
- Leisure
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Leisure is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure
- 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)
- Spring Grove is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Pullman
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Ganges
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ganges is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganges
- 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)
- Sumnerville is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumnerville
- Pokagon
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Pokagon is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pokagon
- La Grange
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- La Grange is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
- Cassopolis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Penn
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Penn is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Wakelee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wakelee is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
- 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)
- Fish Corners is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Corners
- Covert
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hartford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Keeler
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Keeler is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeler
- South Haven
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Bangor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrence
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Kibbie
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kibbie is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibbie
- Breedsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lacota
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Lacota is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacota
- Bloomingdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Lake Michigan Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
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)
- Harris Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Curtis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Coloma Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for 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 <2>
- Lake Shore Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Boyer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fish Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kniebes Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Emmanuel Home Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Millburg Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (178 more) ...
- St. Pauls UCC Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Watervliet Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Morton Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
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.<3>
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)
- Riverside is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Coloma
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Twelve Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
- Millburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Millburg is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millburg
- Watervliet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Toquin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Toquin is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toquin
- 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)
- Spinks Corners is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinks Corners
- 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)
- McDonald is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Vineland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vineland is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland
- Sodus
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Sodus is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
- Naomi
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Naomi is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
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]<4>. 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 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 Lake Michigan Beach:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Berrien County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegan County
- Cass County
- Van Buren County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | The 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Michigan Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |