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 Orangeville (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 Orangeville. 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 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.
Orangeville is located in Barry 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 Barry County: Allegan, Calhoun, Eaton, Ionia, Kalamazoo & Kent.
Below are the counties that are near Orangeville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orangeville:
- Barry County (The home county of Orangeville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Prairieville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Prairieville is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Cloverdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Doster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Doster is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
- Delton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Cedar Creek is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
- Irving
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Irving is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
- Hickory Corners
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Middleville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Dowling
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Dowling is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowling
- Hastings
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Banfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Banfield is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banfield
- Freeport
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Morgan
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Morgan is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
- Allegan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Hooper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hooper is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper
- Neeley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Neeley is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neeley
- Shelbyville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Martin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bradley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bradley is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Plainwell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Watson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Watson is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- Wayland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Otsego
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hilliards
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hilliards is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilliards
- Hopkins
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Moline
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Moline is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
- Dorr
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Bedford
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Level Park
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Level Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Park
- Fort Custer
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
- Former name for Fort Custer:
- Camp Custer
- Oak Park
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- Springfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Battle Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Pennfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Pennfield is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennfield
- Verona Park
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Verona Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona Park
- Brownlee Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brownlee Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee Park
- Sonoma
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
- West Leroy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Beadle Lake
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Beadle Lake is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beadle Lake
- Joppa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Joppa is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Eaton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Vermontville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Bellevue
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Woodbury
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Woodbury is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury
- Carlisle
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Carlisle is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Ainger
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Ainger is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ainger
- Chester
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Chester is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
- Little Venice
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Little Venice is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Venice
- Sunfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ionia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Campbell Corners
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Campbell Corners is located in Ionia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Corners
- Elmdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Elmdale is located in Ionia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
- Clarksville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Odessa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Saranac
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Sebewa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Sebewa is located in Ionia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sebewa
- Kalamazoo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Highland Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Highland Park is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
- Richland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- South Gull Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Gull Lake is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gull Lake
- Yorkville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
- East Cooper
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- East Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cooper
- Parchment
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Alamo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Alamo is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
- Eastwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- Augusta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Comstock
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
- Galesburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Kalamazoo
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Westwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
- Kent County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Caledonia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Corinth
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Corinth is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- North Dorr
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- North Dorr is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dorr
- Dutton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dutton is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Byron Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Carlisle
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Carlisle is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Cutlerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Alto
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Kentwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Burlingame
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Burlingame is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
- Clyde Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Clyde Park is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde Park
- Burlingame Heights
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Burlingame Heights is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame Heights
- Wyoming
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Ottawa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Forest Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Forest Grove is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Jamestown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Jamestown is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Forest Grove Station
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Forest Grove Station is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove Station
- Drenthe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Drenthe is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenthe
- Hudsonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jenison
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- South Blendon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- South Blendon is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Blendon
- Van Buren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Kendall
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kendall is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
- North Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Lake is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lake
- Gobles
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Almena
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Almena is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Mattawan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Glendale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Glendale is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Paw Paw
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomingdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Grand Junction
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orangeville, see our County-by-County Page for Orangeville.
Cemeteries Near Orangeville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orangeville.
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 Orangeville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orangeville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Oakhill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakhill Cemetery
- The Oakhill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Oak Hill Cemetery
- Orangeville Twp. Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #870884 <2>
- Brown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Lindsey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Jesuit Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Messer Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Prairieville Twp. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Yankee Springs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- German Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Robbins Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- McCallum Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- East Martin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- South Martin Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (305 more) ...
- St.s Cyril & Methodius' Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bradley Indian Mission Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Selkirk Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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.<3>
While we didn't find Orangeville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orangeville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orangeville, with the one closest to Orangeville listed first.
- Hooper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hooper is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper
- Prairieville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Prairieville is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Doster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Doster is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
- Delton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cloverdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Shelbyville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Martin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bowens Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bowens Mill is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowens Mill
- Cressey
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Cressey is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cressey
- Bradley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bradley is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Plainwell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cedar Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Cedar Creek is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Watson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Watson is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- Richland Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Richland Junction is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Junction
- Hickory Corners
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orangeville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orangeville.
Newspapers Published in Orangeville ...
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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orangeville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orangeville, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orangeville.
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 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 Orangeville:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Barry County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegan County
- Calhoun County
- Eaton County
- Ionia County
- Kalamazoo County
- Kent County
- Ottawa County
- Van Buren 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> | 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 Orangeville, 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- Orangeville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |