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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 Oak Park (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 Oak Park. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Oak Park is located in Oakland 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 Oakland County: Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Washtenaw & Wayne.

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

  • Oakland County     (The home county of Oak Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Huntington Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ferndale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Royal Oak
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Southfield
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hazel Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Berkley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lathrup Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Madison Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Clawson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Beverly Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bingham Farms
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Green Oak
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Oak
      • Green Oak is located in Livingston County
    • Whitmore Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitmore Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitmore Lake
      • Whitmore Lake is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitmore Lake <1>
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Dalton Corners ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dalton Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Corners
      • Dalton Corners is located in Macomb County
    • Van Dyke ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Dyke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Dyke
      • Van Dyke is located in Macomb County
    • Center Line
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Line have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Line
      • Center Line is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,090 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Line <1>
    • Warren
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Warren is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
      • Warren has also been known as:
      • Cottageville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
    • Spinnings ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spinnings. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinnings
      • Spinnings is located in Macomb County
      • Spinnings has also been known as:
      • Spinning
    • Sterling Heights
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sterling Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling Heights
      • Sterling Heights is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131,709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sterling Heights <1>
    • Eastpointe
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastpointe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastpointe
      • Eastpointe is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,720 people
      • Former names for Eastpointe:
      • East Detroit
      • Half-Way
      • Halfway
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eastpointe <1>
    • Roseville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Plumb Brook ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plumb Brook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb Brook
      • Plumb Brook is located in Macomb County
      • Plumb Brook has also been known as:
      • Plum Brook
      • Plumbrook Village
      • Plumbrook
    • Cady ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
      • Cady is located in Macomb County
      • Cady has also been known as:
      • Cady's Corner
    • Dresden Village ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dresden Village. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresden Village
      • Dresden Village is located in Macomb County
    • Fraser
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraser have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraser
      • Fraser is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,331 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fraser <1>
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Flat Rock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
      • Flat Rock is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,959 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flat Rock <1>
    • South Rockwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Rockwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rockwood
      • South Rockwood is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,648 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Rockwood <1>
    • Carleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Saint Clair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Anchorville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorville
      • Anchorville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Fair Haven
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
      • Fair Haven is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fair Haven <1>
  • Washtenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Salem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
      • Salem is located in Washtenaw County
    • Rawsonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawsonville
      • Rawsonville is located in Washtenaw County
    • Dixboro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixboro
      • Dixboro is located in Washtenaw County
    • Ypsilanti
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Emery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emery
      • Emery is located in Washtenaw County
    • Willis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Willis is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <1>
    • Barton Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton Hills
      • Barton Hills is located in Washtenaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Park, with the one closest to Oak Park listed first.
    • Strathmoor ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Strathmoor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathmoor
      • Strathmoor is located in Wayne County
    • Highland Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
    • Brightmoor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightmoor
      • Brightmoor is located in Wayne County
    • Hamtramck
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Redford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redford
      • Redford is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Redford <1>
    • Beech
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beech have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech
      • Beech is located in Wayne County
    • Dearborn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Springwells
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwells
      • Springwells is located in Wayne County
      • Former name for Springwells:
      • Fordson
    • Detroit
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dearborn Heights
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dearborn Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearborn Heights
      • Dearborn Heights is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55,027 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dearborn Heights <1>
    • Livonia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oak Park ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Park.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oak Park. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oak Park and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oak Park.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<4> of Oak Park.

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 Oak Park:

Cemeteries Near Oak Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Park.

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

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

  • Beth Abraham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Machpelah Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Congregation Beth Tefilo Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Congregation Beth Tefilo Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Ferndale.
    • The Congregation Beth Tefilo Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Beth Tefilo Emanual Synagogue Cemetery
    • Nusach H'ari Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Congregation Beth Tefilo Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1980536 <5>
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Beekman Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Oakview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Royal Oak Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Royal Oak Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Royal Oak.
    • The Royal Oak Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Royal Oak Twp. Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Royal Oak Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1554 <5>
  • Roseland Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery
  • Mt. Hazel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hazel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hazel Cemetery
  • Continue List   (354 more) ...
    • Forest Hill Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
    • Acacia Park Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Southfield Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Royal Oak
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Southfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Highland Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
    • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
  • Clawson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Oak
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak
    • Oak is located in Wayne County
  • Birmingham
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Redford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redford
    • Redford is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Redford <1>
  • Big Beaver
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
    • Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
  • Franklin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Oakland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,221 people
    • Franklin has also been known as:
    • Franklin Village
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <1>
  • Beech
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beech have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech
    • Beech is located in Wayne County
  • Warren
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
    • Warren is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
    • Warren has also been known as:
    • Cottageville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
  • Elm
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm
    • Elm is located in Wayne County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Dearborn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Farmington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Livonia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)

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

The official website for Oak Park: www.oakpark-mi.com/

The official website for Oakland County: www.co.oakland.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>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 from Point A (ie- Oak Park) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4598, Longitude: -83.1819    
<5>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.
<6>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 Oak Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024