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 Lapeer (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 Lapeer. 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 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 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.
Lapeer is located in Lapeer County and is the County Seat.
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 Lapeer County: Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, Saint Clair, Sanilac & Tuscola.
Below are the counties that are near Lapeer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lapeer:
- Lapeer County (The home county of Lapeer)
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Hunters Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hunters Creek is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Creek
- Metamora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Hadley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Attica
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Five Lakes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Five Lakes is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Lakes
- Columbiaville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Barnes Lake - Millers Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Lum
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lum is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lum
- Kings Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kings Mill is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Mill
- Imlay City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Dryden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Otter Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- North Branch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Genesee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Davison
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Atlas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Atlas is located in Genesee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
- Goodrich
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Russellville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Russellville is located in Genesee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
- Otisville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Genesee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Burton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Grand Blanc
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Beecher
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Beecher is located in Genesee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beecher
- Flint
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Mount Morris
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Clio
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Farrandville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Farrandville is located in Genesee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrandville
- Livingston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Tyrone
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tyrone is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone
- Hallers Corners
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hallers Corners is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallers Corners
- Macomb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Miami ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Miami is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami
- Grays' Mills ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Grays' Mills is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays' Mills
- Former names for Grays' Mills:
- Clifton Mill
- Clifton Village
- Clifton
- Thorington ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thorington is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorington
- Thorington has also been known as:
- Thorington Settlement
- Romeo
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Armada Corners ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Armada Corners is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armada Corners
- Armada Corners has also been known as:
- Selleck's Corners
- Crissmanville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Crissmanville is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crissmanville
- Mount Vernon ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Vernon is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Doyle ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Doyle is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyle
- Armada
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Armada is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armada
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,698 people
- Former names for Armada:
- Burk's Corners
- Honeyoe
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Armada <1>
- Washington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Shelby ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Shelby is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
- Shelby has also been known as:
- Shelby Crossing
- Shelby Station
- Berry's Corners ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Berry's Corners is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry's Corners
- Davis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Davis is located in Macomb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
- Oakland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Thomas
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Thomas is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
- Oakwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Oakwood is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
- Ortonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oxford
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Perry Lake Heights
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Perry Lake Heights is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry Lake Heights
- Leonard
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeville is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville
- Lake Orion
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Lake Orion is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Orion
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,191 people
- Former names for Lake Orion:
- Canandaigua City
- New Canandaigua
- Oakland
- Orion
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Orion <1>
- Lake Orion Heights
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Lake Orion Heights is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Orion Heights
- Campbells Corner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Campbells Corner is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corner
- Groveland Corners
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Groveland Corners is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland Corners
- Newark
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Newark is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
- Austin Corners
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Austin Corners is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin Corners
- Saginaw County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Birch Run
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Frankenmuth
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Taymouth
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Taymouth is located in Saginaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taymouth
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Capac
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Allenton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Allenton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenton
- Lesterville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Lesterville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lesterville
- Berville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Berville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berville
- Riley Center
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Riley Center is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riley Center
- Yale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Yale is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,861 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yale <1>
- Brockway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Brockway is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockway
- Emmett
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sanilac County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Marlette
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Valley Center
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Valley Center is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Center
- Melvin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Melvin is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
- Juhl
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Juhl is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juhl
- Speaker
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Speaker is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speaker
- Peck
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Peck is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peck
- Population from the 2020 Census: 588 people
- Roseburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Roseburg is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseburg
- Shiawassee County
- Lennon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Tuscola County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Fostoria
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Fostoria is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fostoria
- Mayville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Millington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Juniata
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Juniata is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniata
- Tuscola
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Vassar
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Wahjamega
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Wahjamega is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahjamega
- Watrousville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Watrousville is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watrousville
- Wilmot
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Wilmot is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
- Caro
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Denmark Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Denmark Junction is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark Junction
- Richville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Lapeer, see our County-by-County Page for Lapeer.
Cemeteries Near Lapeer ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lapeer.
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 Lapeer - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lapeer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Lapeer State Home Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Mt. Loretto Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Higley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Stiles Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Clark Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Millville Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Bentley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hunters Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Schuneman Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Harris Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Elba Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (285 more) ...
- Dawn Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Farmers Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Roscoe Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lapeer had a population of 2,753 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lapeer had a population of 8,452 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Lapeer, with the one closest to Lapeer listed first.
- Hunters Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hunters Creek is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Creek
- Farmers Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Farmers Creek is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Creek
- Elba
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Elba is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elba
- Hadley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Metamora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Thornville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Thornville is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornville
- Attica
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Columbiaville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Five Lakes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Five Lakes is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Lakes
- Lum
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lum is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lum
- Kings Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kings Mill is located in Lapeer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Mill
- Thomas
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Thomas is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Atlas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Atlas is located in Genesee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
- Goodrich
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oakwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Oakwood is located in Oakland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Lapeer. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lapeer.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lapeer ...
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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lapeer.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lapeer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lapeer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lapeer.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Lapeer.
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 Lapeer:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Lapeer County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Genesee County
- Livingston County
- Macomb County
- Oakland County
- Saginaw County
- Saint Clair County
- Sanilac County
- Shiawassee County
- Tuscola 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 Lapeer, 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- Lapeer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |