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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 Merriman (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 Merriman. 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 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 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.

Merriman is located in Dickinson 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 Dickinson County: Iron, Marquette, Menominee, Florence (WI) & Marinette (WI).

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

  • Dickinson County     (The home county of Merriman)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merriman, with the one closest to Merriman listed first.
    • Iron Mountain
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Kingsford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingsford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsford
      • Kingsford is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,923 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kingsford <1>
    • Quinnesec
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Norway
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway
      • Norway is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,714 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norway <1>
    • Sagola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Felch Mountain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felch Mountain
      • Felch Mountain is located in Dickinson County
    • Felch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Vulcan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vulcan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
      • Vulcan is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vulcan <1>
    • Foster City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster City
      • Foster City is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foster City <1>
    • Channing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Loretto
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Turner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Turner is located in Dickinson County
  • Iron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merriman, with the one closest to Merriman listed first.
    • Mansfield ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mansfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
      • Mansfield is located in Iron County
    • Stager
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stager. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stager
      • Stager is located in Iron County
    • Mastodon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mastodon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mastodon
      • Mastodon is located in Iron County
    • Alpha
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clinch ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clinch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinch
      • Clinch is located in Iron County
    • Crystal Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Pentoga
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentoga
      • Pentoga is located in Iron County
    • Chicagon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chicagon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicagon
      • Chicagon is located in Iron County
    • Amasa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bates Junction
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bates Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates Junction
      • Bates Junction is located in Iron County
    • Gaastra
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gaastra have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaastra
      • Gaastra is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaastra <1>
    • Caspian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Marquette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merriman, with the one closest to Merriman listed first.
    • Northland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Reade
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Reade. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reade
      • Reade is located in Marquette County
    • Witbeck
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Witbeck. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witbeck
      • Witbeck is located in Marquette County
    • Arnold
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnold have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <1>
  • Menominee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merriman, with the one closest to Merriman listed first.
    • Blom
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blom
      • Blom is located in Menominee County
    • Hermansville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermansville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermansville
      • Hermansville is located in Menominee County
    • LaBranche
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaBranche
      • LaBranche is located in Menominee County
    • Powers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers
      • Powers is located in Menominee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Powers <1>
    • Dryads ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dryads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryads
      • Dryads is located in Menominee County
    • Spalding
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spalding
      • Spalding is located in Menominee County
  • Florence County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merriman, with the one closest to Merriman listed first.
    • Spread Eagle
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spread Eagle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spread Eagle
      • Spread Eagle is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Commonwealth
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Commonwealth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
      • Commonwealth is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Aurora
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Florence
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Fern ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fern. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
      • Fern is located in Florence County (WI)
    • Tipler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipler
      • Tipler is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Marinette County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merriman, with the one closest to Merriman listed first.
    • Niagara
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niagara have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niagara
      • Niagara is located in Marinette County (WI)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,535 people
    • Dunbar
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbar
      • Dunbar is located in Marinette County (WI)
    • Pembine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pembine
      • Pembine is located in Marinette County (WI)

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

Cemeteries Near Merriman ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merriman.

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

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

  • Iron Mtn. Cemetery Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Dickinson County Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickinson County Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickinson County Memorial Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quinnesec Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quinnesec Cemetery
    • The Quinnesec Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Breitung Twp. Cemetery
    • Kingsford - Quinnesec Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #840 <4>
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Anthony Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anthony Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Anthony Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Homestead - Aurora Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Norway Twp. Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Felch Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Felch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Felch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sagola Twp. Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Foster City Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foster City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foster City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • Crystal Falls City Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crystal Falls City Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crystal Falls City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Waucedah Twp. Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Waucedah Twp. Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Waucedah Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ralph Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ralph Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ralph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Merriman had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Granite Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Bluff
    • Granite Bluff is located in Dickinson County
  • Pulp
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pulp have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulp
    • Pulp is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Spread Eagle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spread Eagle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spread Eagle
    • Spread Eagle is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Randville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randville
    • Randville is located in Dickinson County
  • Iron Mountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Quinnesec
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Commonwealth
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Commonwealth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
    • Commonwealth is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Florence
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Florence is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Norway
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway
    • Norway is located in Dickinson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,714 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norway <1>
  • Ridgetop
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ridgetop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgetop
    • Ridgetop is located in Florence County (WI)
  • Sagola
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Mansfield ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mansfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
    • Mansfield is located in Iron County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Vulcan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vulcan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
      • Vulcan is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vulcan <1>
    • Stager
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stager. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stager
      • Stager is located in Iron County
    • Foster City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster City
      • Foster City is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foster City <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Merriman ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merriman.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merriman, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merriman.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Merriman:

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

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

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 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.
<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>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 Merriman, 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 from Point A (ie- Merriman) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merriman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.9175, Longitude: -88.0557       In this case, the coordinates for Merriman have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025