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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 Muskegon Heights (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 Muskegon Heights. 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 Muskegon Heights ...

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 Muskegon Heights: Muskegon Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Muskegon Heights is located in Muskegon 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 Muskegon County: Kent, Newaygo, Oceana & Ottawa.

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

  • Muskegon County     (The home county of Muskegon Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Muskegon Heights, with the one closest to Muskegon Heights listed first.
    • Roosevelt Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Muskegon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • North Muskegon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Norton Shores
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton Shores
      • Norton Shores is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,623 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norton Shores <1>
    • Dalton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Wolf Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Muskegon County
    • Fruitport
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitport
      • Fruitport is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitport <1>
    • Sullivan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Lakewood Club
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Club have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Club
      • Lakewood Club is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,292 people
    • Twin Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Morgan Corners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Sylvan Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Wabaningo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wabaningo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabaningo
      • Wabaningo is located in Muskegon County
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Muskegon Heights, with the one closest to Muskegon Heights listed first.
    • Casnovia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casnovia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casnovia
      • Casnovia is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casnovia <1>
    • Lisbon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lisbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
      • Lisbon is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lisbon
      • From Muskegon Heights to Lisbon
    • Kent City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent City
      • Kent City is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent City <1>
    • Sparta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Kinney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kinney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinney
      • Kinney is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kinney
      • From Muskegon Heights to Kinney
    • Walker
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walker have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
      • Walker is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,265 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walker <1>
  • Newaygo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Muskegon Heights, with the one closest to Muskegon Heights listed first.
    • Sitka
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sitka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
      • Sitka is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sitka
      • From Muskegon Heights to Sitka
    • Bridgeton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Brookside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Reeman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ashland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
      • Ashland is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashland
      • From Muskegon Heights to Ashland
    • Bishop
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fremont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Newaygo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
      • Former name for Fremont:
      • Fremont Center
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <1>
    • Grant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Newaygo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newaygo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaygo
      • Newaygo is located in Newaygo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,099 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newaygo <1>
    • Sun
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sun. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
      • Sun is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sun
      • From Muskegon Heights to Sun
    • Wooster
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wooster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooster
      • Wooster is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wooster
      • From Muskegon Heights to Wooster
    • Aetna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Huber
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Oceana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Muskegon Heights, with the one closest to Muskegon Heights listed first.
    • Rothbury
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • New Era
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Era have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
      • New Era is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 440 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Era <1>
    • Camp Claybanks ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ferry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Hesperia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hesperia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
      • Hesperia is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 936 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <1>
    • Shelby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Ottawa County

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

Cemeteries Near Muskegon Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Muskegon Heights.

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

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

  • St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mona View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mona View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mona View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • 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.
  • Restlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Norton Shores Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norton Shores Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norton Shores Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunrise Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunrise Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunrise Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shady Rest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shady Rest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shady Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Home Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2524538 <4>
  • Continue List   (145 more) ...
    • Bear Lake Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bear Lake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bear Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Laketon Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laketon Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laketon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fruitport Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fruitport Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fruitport 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, Muskegon Heights had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Muskegon Heights had a population of 10,688 people.

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

  • Muskegon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • North Muskegon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cloverville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverville
    • Cloverville is located in Muskegon County
  • Fruitport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitport
    • Fruitport is located in Muskegon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,165 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitport <1>
  • Dalton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Ferrysburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferrysburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrysburg
    • Ferrysburg is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,022 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferrysburg <1>
  • Grand Haven
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Spring Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Spring Lake is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,504 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Lake <1>
  • Sullivan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Twin Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Nunica
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nunica have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nunica
    • Nunica is located in Ottawa County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nunica <1>
  • Moorland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorland
    • Moorland is located in Muskegon County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Whitehall
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Montague
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montague have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague
      • Montague is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,365 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montague <1>
    • Dennison
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dennison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennison
      • Dennison is located in Ottawa County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Muskegon Heights ...

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 128 newspapers that have been published in the area around Muskegon Heights.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Muskegon Heights. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Muskegon Heights and those printed in the larger area surrounding Muskegon Heights.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Muskegon Heights.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Muskegon Heights:

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

The official website for Muskegon County: www.co.muskegon.mi.us/

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 Muskegon Heights, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Muskegon Heights) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Muskegon Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2051, Longitude: -86.2448    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025