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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 Orchard Beach (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 Orchard Beach. 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 Orchard Beach ...

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 Orchard Beach: Orchard Bch.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Orchard Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orchard Beach.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Orchard Beach is located in Cheboygan 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 Cheboygan County: Charlevoix, Emmet, Montmorency, Otsego & Presque Isle.

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

  • Cheboygan County     (The home county of Orchard Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
    • Mullett Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Mullett Lake is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullett Lake
    • Silver Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Silver Beach is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Long Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Point is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
    • Cheboygan
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Veery Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Veery Point is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veery Point
    • Riggsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville
    • Giauque Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Giauque Beach is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giauque Beach
    • Topinabee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Point Nipigon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Point Nipigon is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Nipigon
      • Point Nipigon has also been known as:
      • Point Nip-i-gon
    • Afton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Fingerboard Corner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Fingerboard Corner is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fingerboard Corner
    • Indian River
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Charlevoix County
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
    • Brutus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Pellston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Van
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Van is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
    • Carp Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Levering
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Alanson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ponshewaing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Ponshewaing is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponshewaing
    • Oden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Mackinaw City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Conway
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bliss
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Bliss is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
    • Marsh Corner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Marsh Corner is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Corner
  • Mackinac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
    • Pointe Aux Pins
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Mackinac Island
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • British Landing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • British Landing is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for British Landing
    • Saint Ignace
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Gros Cap
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Gros Cap is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gros Cap
    • Cedarville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Hessel
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Port Dolomite
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Port Dolomite is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Dolomite
  • Montmorency County
    • Canada Creek Ranch
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Canada Creek Ranch is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada Creek Ranch
  • Otsego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
    • Green Timbers
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Green Timbers is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Timbers
    • Vanderbilt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Presque Isle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
    • Black Lake Bluffs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Black Lake Bluffs is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lake Bluffs
    • Onaway
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Onaway is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onaway <1>
    • Huron Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Huron Beach is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Beach
    • Ocqueoc
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ocqueoc is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocqueoc
    • Millersburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Moltke
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Moltke is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moltke

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

Cemeteries Near Orchard Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orchard Beach.

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 Orchard Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Owens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Devereaux Grave
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Johnson Grave
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • African-American Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Pine Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Pine Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Polish Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. John's German Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (79 more) ...
    • Mt. Calvary Polish Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Riggsville Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Burt Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)

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 Orchard Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orchard Beach.

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

  • Mullett Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Mullett Lake is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullett Lake
  • Cheboygan
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Manning
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Manning is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manning
  • Riggsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville
  • Topinabee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian River
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pointe Aux Pins
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Burt Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Brutus
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Freedom
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Freedom is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
  • Pellston
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Carp Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Levering
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Alanson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wildwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Wildwood is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood

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

Newspapers Published in Orchard Beach ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orchard Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orchard Beach, 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 Orchard Beach.

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 helpful 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 Orchard Beach:

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 Orchard Beach, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Orchard Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.