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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for Michigan





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 Michigan Center (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 Michigan Center. 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 Michigan Center ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Michigan Center: Michigan Ctr. (or less commonly used: Michigan Cen., Michigan Cent. or Michigan Cntr.)

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Michigan Center is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Calhoun, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Lenawee, Livingston & Washtenaw.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Michigan Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Michigan Center.

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

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

  • McArthur Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McArthur Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McArthur Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Roseland Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roseland Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roseland Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eldred Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eldred Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eldred Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Leoni Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leoni Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leoni Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cradit Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cradit Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cradit Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maxon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maxon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maxon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Main Street Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Main Street Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Main Street Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Roman Orthodox Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roman Orthodox Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roman Orthodox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (386 more) ...
    • Cherry Hill Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cherry Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cherry Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Evergreen Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Grass Lake Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grass Lake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grass Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Michigan Center had a population of 89 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Leoni
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Leoni. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoni
    • Leoni is located in Jackson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Leoni
    • From Michigan Center to Leoni
  • Jackson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Napoleon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Napoleon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
    • Napoleon is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napoleon <2>
  • Grass Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Lake
    • Grass Lake is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,140 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Lake <2>
  • South Jackson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Roots
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roots have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roots
    • Roots is located in Jackson County
  • Norvell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norvell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norvell
    • Norvell is located in Jackson County
  • Liberty
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Brooklyn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Brooklyn is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,165 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brooklyn <2>
  • Trist
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Trist. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trist
    • Trist is located in Jackson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Trist
    • From Michigan Center to Trist
  • Sandstone
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Francisco
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Francisco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francisco
    • Francisco is located in Jackson County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Michigan Center ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Michigan Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Michigan Center, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Michigan Center.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Michigan Center:

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

The official website for Jackson County: www.co.jackson.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>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 Michigan Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Michigan Center) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Michigan Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2330, Longitude: -84.3270       In this case, the coordinates for Michigan Center have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025