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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 Orion (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 Orion. 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 Orion ...

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.

Over the years, Lake Orion had several name changes:

  • Prior to its current name of Lake Orion, it was known as Orion.
  • Before changing to Orion, it was named New Canandaigua.
  • And before that, New Canandaigua was named Oakland.
  • Lake Orion was originally named Canandaigua City

Other variations include: Canadiagua, Canandaigua and New Canadiagua.

  • A typical abbreviation for Lake Orion: Lk. Orion

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.

A Few Details for Lake Orion ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

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 and hospitals 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.

Lake Orion is located in Oakland 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 Oakland County: Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Washtenaw & Wayne.

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

  • Oakland County     (The home county of Lake Orion)
  • Genesee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Orion, with the one closest to Lake Orion listed first.
    • Goodrich
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Atlas
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlas have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
      • Atlas is located in Genesee County
    • Davison
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davison have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davison
      • Davison is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,860 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Davison <2>
    • Grand Blanc
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeside
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Burton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayport Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Fenton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fenton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
      • Fenton is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,374 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fenton <2>
    • Lake Fenton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Russellville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Flint
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Linden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
      • Linden is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,954 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Linden <2>
    • Genesee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genesee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genesee
      • Genesee is located in Genesee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Genesee <2>
  • Lapeer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Orion, with the one closest to Lake Orion listed first.
    • Metamora
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Dryden
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Almont
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont
      • Almont is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,815 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almont <2>
    • Hunters Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Hadley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hadley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
      • Hadley is located in Lapeer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hadley <2>
    • Attica
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Attica have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
      • Attica is located in Lapeer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Attica <2>
    • Lapeer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lapeer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapeer
      • Lapeer is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,452 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lapeer <2>
    • Imlay City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Lum
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Five Lakes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Lakes
      • Five Lakes is located in Lapeer County
    • Kings Mill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Barnes Lake - Millers Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Columbiaville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Livingston County
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Orion, with the one closest to Lake Orion listed first.
    • Grays' Mills ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grays' Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays' Mills
      • Grays' Mills is located in Macomb County
      • Former names for Grays' Mills:
      • Clifton Mill
      • Clifton Village
      • Clifton
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Grays' Mills
      • From Lake Orion to Grays' Mills
    • Miami ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Miami. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami
      • Miami is located in Macomb County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Miami
      • From Lake Orion to Miami
    • Mount Vernon ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Crissmanville ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Thorington ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thorington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorington
      • Thorington is located in Macomb County
      • Thorington has also been known as:
      • Thorington Settlement
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Thorington
      • From Lake Orion to Thorington
    • Shelby ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shelby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Macomb County
      • Shelby has also been known as:
      • Shelby Crossing
      • Shelby Station
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shelby
      • From Lake Orion to Shelby
    • Romeo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Depew ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Depew. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depew
      • Depew is located in Macomb County
      • Depew has also been known as:
      • Depew Siding
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Depew
      • From Lake Orion to Depew
    • Washington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Disco ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Prestonville ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prestonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prestonville
      • Prestonville is located in Macomb County
      • Prestonville has also been known as:
      • Preston Corners
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Prestonville
      • From Lake Orion to Prestonville
    • Shelby Village ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Armada Corners ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Armada Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armada Corners
      • Armada Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Armada Corners has also been known as:
      • Selleck's Corners
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Armada Corners
      • From Lake Orion to Armada Corners
  • Saint Clair County
  • Wayne County

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Orion ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Orion.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lake Orion, with the one closest to Lake Orion 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.<5>

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

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lake Orion ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Orion.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lake Orion. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lake Orion and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lake Orion.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<6> of Lake Orion.

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 websites either 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 Orion:

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

The official website for Oakland County: www.co.oakland.mi.us/

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 Orion, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Orion) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Orion. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7847, Longitude: -83.2398    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 06 Aug 2025