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 North Lake (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 North Lake. 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 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.
North Lake is located in Van Buren County.
To see how the shape of Michigan's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Van Buren County: Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.
Below are the counties that are near North Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to North Lake:
- Van Buren County (The home county of North Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Kendall
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Kendall is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
- Gobles
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Almena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Almena is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Glendale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Glendale is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Mattawan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Paw Paw
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lawton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Breedsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Bloomingdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Grand Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Lawrence
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bangor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Lacota
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Lacota is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacota
- Allegan County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Otsego
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Plainwell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Allegan
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Watson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Watson is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- Martin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hooper
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hooper is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper
- Neeley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Neeley is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neeley
- Pullman
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- South Monterey
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- South Monterey is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Monterey
- Hopkins
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Shelbyville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Leisure
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Leisure is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure
- Leisure has also been known as:
- East Casco
- Hawkhead
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hawkhead is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkhead
- Barry County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Doster
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Doster is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
- Prairieville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Prairieville is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Hickory Corners
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Delton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Cloverdale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cloverdale is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Banfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Banfield is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banfield
- Cedar Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Creek is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
- Berrien County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Watervliet
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Paw Paw Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Paw Paw Lake is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw Lake
- Coloma
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Michigan Beach
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Lake Michigan Beach is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Michigan Beach
- Naomi
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Naomi is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
- Riverside
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Riverside is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Fort Custer
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
- Former name for Fort Custer:
- Camp Custer
- Level Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Level Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Park
- Oak Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Oak Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- West Leroy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Springfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Bedford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Sonoma
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Marcellus
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Wakelee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Wakelee is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
- Penn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Penn is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Dowagiac
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- La Grange
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- La Grange is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
- Corey
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Corey is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
- Jones
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Vandalia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Vandalia is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Cassopolis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Kalamazoo County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Alamo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Alamo is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
- Oshtemo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Westwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
- Kalamazoo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Parchment
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- East Cooper
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- East Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cooper
- Eastwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- Milwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Milwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwood
- Portage
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Comstock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
- Schoolcraft
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Richland
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pavillion Center
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Kent County
- North Dorr
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- North Dorr is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dorr
- Saint Joseph County
- The following are listed by their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Chamberlain
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Chamberlain is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
- Parkville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
- Three Rivers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Fabius
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
- Mendon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to North Lake, see our County-by-County Page for North Lake.
Cemeteries Near North Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of North Lake.
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for North Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for North Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Kendall Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Robinson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Almena Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- West Oshtemo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Earl Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Austin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Liberty Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Alamo Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tucker Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (282 more) ...
- Glendale Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Trowbridge Methodist Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Spring Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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.<2>
While we didn't find North Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of North Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from North Lake, with the one closest to North Lake listed first.
- Kendall
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Kendall is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
- Pine Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Grove is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
- Gobles
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Almena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Almena is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Alamo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Alamo is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
- Glendale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Glendale is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Paw Paw
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mattawan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Oshtemo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Berlamont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Berlamont is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlamont
- Otsego
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lawton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Cooper
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
- Plainwell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kalamazoo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around North Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around North Lake.
Newspapers Published in North Lake ...
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 184 newspapers that have been published in the area around North Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of North Lake, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for North Lake.
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 North Lake:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Van Buren County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegan County
- Barry County
- Berrien County
- Calhoun County
- Cass County
- Kalamazoo County
- Kent County
- Saint Joseph County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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> | 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 North Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- North Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |