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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 Manistee (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 Manistee. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Manistee is located in Manistee County and is the County Seat.

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 Manistee County: Benzie, Grand Traverse, Lake, Mason & Wexford.

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

  • Manistee County     (The home county of Manistee)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manistee, with the one closest to Manistee listed first.
    • Eastlake
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastlake
      • Eastlake is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
    • Parkdale
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
      • Parkdale is located in Manistee County
    • Oak Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
      • Oak Hill is located in Manistee County
      • Oak Hill has also been known as:
      • Oakhill
    • Filer City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filer City
      • Filer City is located in Manistee County
    • Douglas
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
      • Douglas is located in Manistee County
    • Norwalk
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwalk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwalk
      • Norwalk is located in Manistee County
    • Onekama
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama
      • Onekama is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onekama <2>
    • Udell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udell
      • Udell is located in Manistee County
    • Chief Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chief Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
      • Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
    • Bear Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Brethren
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brethren have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brethren
      • Brethren is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brethren <2>
    • Arcadia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Benzie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manistee, with the one closest to Manistee listed first.
    • Elberta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Thompsonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Frankfort
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frankfort have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
      • Frankfort is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frankfort <2>
    • Benzonia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Beulah
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
      • Beulah is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beulah <2>
    • Nessen City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nessen City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nessen City
      • Nessen City is located in Benzie County
    • Griner Station
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Griner Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griner Station
      • Griner Station is located in Benzie County
      • Griner Station has also been known as:
      • Print
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manistee, with the one closest to Manistee listed first.
    • Irons
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irons have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irons
      • Irons is located in Lake County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irons <2>
    • Sauble
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sauble have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauble
      • Sauble is located in Lake County
    • Peacock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
      • Peacock is located in Lake County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manistee, with the one closest to Manistee listed first.
    • Free Soil
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fountain
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sugar Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
      • Sugar Grove is located in Mason County
      • Sugar Grove has also been known as:
      • Clark's Corners
    • Elm Flats ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Flats. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Flats
      • Elm Flats is located in Mason County
    • Piney Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Ridge
      • Piney Ridge is located in Mason County
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Batcheller have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batcheller
      • Batcheller is located in Mason County
      • Batcheller has also been known as:
      • Turtle Lake
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Mason County
    • Amber
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
      • Amber is located in Mason County
      • Amber has also been known as:
      • Slaughtburg
    • Custer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
      • Custer is located in Mason County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
      • Former names for Custer:
      • Black Creek
      • Ferryville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Custer <2>
    • Ludington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Scottville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottville
      • Scottville is located in Mason County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,209 people
      • Scottville has also been known as:
      • Mason Center
      • Sweetland
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scottville <2>
    • Tallman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tallman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallman
      • Tallman is located in Mason County
      • Tallman has also been known as:
      • Weaver
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manistee, with the one closest to Manistee listed first.
    • Yuma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yuma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma
      • Yuma is located in Wexford County
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoxeyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
      • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
      • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
      • Clay Hill

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Manistee ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Manistee.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Manistee. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Manistee and those printed in the larger area surrounding Manistee.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Manistee.

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 Manistee:

Cemeteries Near Manistee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Manistee.

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

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

  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
  • Old Stronach Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Stronach Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Stronach Cemetery
  • Long Lake Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Miller Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miller Cemetery
  • Norwalk Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwalk Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwalk Lutheran Cemetery
  • Grant Twp. Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
  • Old School House Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • The Old School House Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Brown Twp. Cemetery
    • Brownstown Cemetery
    • Browntown Cemetery
    • Old Schoolhouse Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old School House Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #187 <5>
  • Onekama Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Onekama Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onekama Cemetery
  • Continue List   (75 more) ...
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • North Victory Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • St. John Cantius' Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Manistee had a population of 12,812 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Manistee had a population of 6,163 people.

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

  • Oak Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
    • Oak Hill is located in Manistee County
    • Oak Hill has also been known as:
    • Oakhill
  • Eastlake
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastlake
    • Eastlake is located in Manistee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
  • Filer City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filer City
    • Filer City is located in Manistee County
  • Stronach
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stronach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stronach
    • Stronach is located in Manistee County
  • Onekama Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama Junction
    • Onekama Junction is located in Manistee County
  • Onekama
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama
    • Onekama is located in Manistee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onekama <2>
  • Free Soil
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chief Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chief Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
    • Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
  • Pierport
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierport
    • Pierport is located in Manistee County
  • Bear Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Fountain
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sugar Grove
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
    • Sugar Grove is located in Mason County
    • Sugar Grove has also been known as:
    • Clark's Corners
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Arcadia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Pleasanton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasanton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasanton
      • Pleasanton is located in Manistee County
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Batcheller have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batcheller
      • Batcheller is located in Mason County
      • Batcheller has also been known as:
      • Turtle Lake

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

The official website for Manistee: www.ci.manistee.mi.us/

The official website for Manistee County: www.manistee.com/~edo/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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- Manistee) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Manistee. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2459, Longitude: -86.3238    
<5>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.
<6>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 Manistee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024