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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 McKinley (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 McKinley. 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 McKinley ...

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.

McKinley was originally named Potts

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 southeast 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 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.

McKinley is located in Oscoda 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 Oscoda County: Alcona, Alpena, Crawford, Iosco, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Otsego & Roscommon.

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

  • Oscoda County     (The home county of McKinley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McKinley, with the one closest to McKinley listed first.
    • Fairview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <2>
    • Kneeland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kneeland
      • Kneeland is located in Oscoda County
    • Mio
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Luzerne
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Red Oak
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
      • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
  • Alcona County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McKinley, with the one closest to McKinley listed first.
    • Curtisville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
      • Curtisville is located in Alcona County
    • Curran
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Glennie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Barton City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hubbard Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Lake
      • Hubbard Lake is located in Alcona County
    • Gustin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gustin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustin
      • Gustin is located in Alcona County
    • Mikado
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Lost Lake Woods
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Lake Woods
      • Lost Lake Woods is located in Alcona County
    • Spruce
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenbush
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Alpena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McKinley, with the one closest to McKinley listed first.
    • Hubbard Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Herron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herron
      • Herron is located in Alpena County
    • Ossineke
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Flanders
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
      • Flanders is located in Alpena County
  • Iosco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McKinley, with the one closest to McKinley listed first.
    • Long Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Hale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Sid Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sid Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sid Town
      • Sid Town is located in Iosco County
    • Foote Site Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foote Site Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foote Site Village
      • Foote Site Village is located in Iosco County
    • Wilber
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilber have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilber
      • Wilber is located in Iosco County
    • Whittemore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whittemore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittemore
      • Whittemore is located in Iosco County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whittemore <2>
    • National City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for National City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National City
      • National City is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for National City <2>
    • White Rock ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
      • White Rock is located in Iosco County
  • Montmorency County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McKinley, with the one closest to McKinley listed first.
    • Garland Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland Village
      • Garland Village is located in Montmorency County
    • Lewiston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Atlanta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
      • Atlanta is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <2>
    • Big Rock ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Big Rock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
      • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
    • Bigelow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bigelow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Bigelow is located in Montmorency County
    • Hillman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Vienna Corners
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vienna Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Corners
      • Vienna Corners is located in Montmorency County
  • Ogemaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McKinley, with the one closest to McKinley listed first.
    • South Branch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Lupton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Rose City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
      • Rose City is located in Ogemaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rose City <2>
    • Damon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
      • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
    • Fayettes Corner ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayettes Corner
      • Fayettes Corner is located in Ogemaw County
    • Campbells Corners
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbells Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
      • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
    • West Branch
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Roscommon County

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

Newspapers Published in McKinley ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around McKinley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McKinley, 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 McKinley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 McKinley:

Cemeteries Near McKinley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McKinley.

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

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

  • McKinley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McKinley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McKinley Cemetery
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weaver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weaver Cemetery
  • Comins Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Comins Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Comins Cemetery
  • Lincoln B. Watson Grave
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln B. Watson Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln B. Watson Grave
  • Curtisville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Lake Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Lake Cemetery
  • Fullerton Family Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Curran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Mooney Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mooney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mooney Cemetery
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Mio Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mio Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mio Cemetery
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • 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
  • Continue List   (69 more) ...
    • Kittle Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kittle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kittle Cemetery
    • Thompson Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Glennie Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Glennie Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the north of Glennie.
      • The Glennie Cemetery has also been known as:
      • East Curtis Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glennie Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #602 <5>

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>

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

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

  • Curran
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Fairview is located in Oscoda County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <2>
  • Mio
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Bryant
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bryant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Bryant is located in Alcona County
  • Long Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Luzerne
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Red Oak
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
    • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
  • Damon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
    • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
  • Hale
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Hubbard Lake
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Selkirk
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selkirk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk
    • Selkirk is located in Ogemaw County
  • Campbells Corners
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbells Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
    • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Mikado
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Gustin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gustin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustin
      • Gustin is located in Alcona County
    • Atlanta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
      • Atlanta is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <2>

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

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

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 '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- McKinley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McKinley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6469, Longitude: -83.9372       In this case, the coordinates for McKinley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 McKinley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024