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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 Norton Shores (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 Norton Shores. 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 Norton Shores ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Norton Shores: Norton Shrs.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

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

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

  • Muskegon County     (The home county of Norton Shores)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norton Shores, with the one closest to Norton Shores listed first.
    • Roosevelt Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Muskegon Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Muskegon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Fruitport
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • North Muskegon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Wolf Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
    • Sullivan
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Sullivan is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
    • Dalton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Dalton is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
    • Morgan Corners
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Morgan Corners is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan Corners
    • Lakewood Club
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Lakewood Club is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Club
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,292 people
    • Twin Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Ravenna
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Sylvan Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sylvan Beach is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Beach
  • Allegan County
    • Graafschap
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Graafschap is located in Allegan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graafschap
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norton Shores, with the one closest to Norton Shores listed first.
    • Casnovia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Lisbon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Lisbon is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
    • Kent City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Kinney
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Kinney is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinney
    • Sparta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Walker
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Comstock Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Grandville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Newaygo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norton Shores, with the one closest to Norton Shores listed first.
    • Sitka
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sitka is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
    • Bridgeton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Bridgeton is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
    • Brookside
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Brookside is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
    • Reeman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Reeman is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeman
    • Ashland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Ashland is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Bishop
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Bishop is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
    • Fremont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Fremont is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
      • Former name for Fremont:
      • Fremont Center
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <1>
    • Grant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Newaygo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sun
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sun is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
    • Wooster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Wooster is located in Newaygo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooster
  • Oceana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norton Shores, with the one closest to Norton Shores listed first.
    • Rothbury
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • New Era
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Camp Claybanks ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Camp Claybanks is located in Oceana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Claybanks
    • Ferry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Ferry is located in Oceana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry
    • Hesperia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Ottawa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Norton Shores, with the one closest to Norton Shores listed first.
    • Ferrysburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Grand Haven
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Spring Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Nunica
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Agnew
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Agnew is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
    • Robinson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Robinson is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • West Olive
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Coopersville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Eastmanville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Eastmanville is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastmanville
    • Conklin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Port Sheldon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Port Sheldon is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Sheldon
    • Rusk
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Rusk is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rusk
    • Allendale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Norton Shores ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Norton Shores.

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 Norton Shores - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Norton Shores covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Norton Shores Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Gregory's Episcopal Church Courtyard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Mona View Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Sunrise Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lakeside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Muskegon.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #885 <2>
  • Restlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Restlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Restlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Muskegon.
    • The Restlawn Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Greenwood Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1461 <2>
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Fruitport Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Spring Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (152 more) ...

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.<3>

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

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

  • Muskegon Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Cloverville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cloverville is located in Muskegon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverville
  • Ferrysburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Fruitport
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Muskegon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Grand Haven
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Spring Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • North Muskegon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Nunica
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sullivan
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Sullivan is located in Muskegon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
  • Dalton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Dalton is located in Muskegon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
  • Agnew
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Agnew is located in Ottawa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Robinson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Robinson is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Dennison
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Dennison is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennison
    • Moorland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Moorland is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorland

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Norton Shores ...

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 125 newspapers that have been published in the area around Norton Shores.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Norton Shores. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Norton Shores and those printed in the larger area surrounding Norton Shores.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Norton Shores.

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 websites either 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 Norton Shores:

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 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.
<3>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 Norton Shores, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Norton Shores) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.