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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Orono. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Orono to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Orono, please Contact Us.

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 Orono (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 Orono. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Orono is historic, it would have been located within present day Osceola 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 Osceola County: Clare, Isabella, Lake, Mecosta, Missaukee, Newaygo & Wexford.

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

  • Osceola County     (The home county of Orono)
  • Clare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orono, with the one closest to Orono listed first.
    • Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Lake George
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Isabella County
  • Lake County
  • Manistee County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orono, with the one closest to Orono listed first.
    • Carr
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carr
      • Carr is located in Mason County
      • Carr has also been known as:
      • Carr Settlement
      • McCumber Settlement
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carr
      • From Orono to Carr
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Millerton
      • From Orono to Millerton
    • Tallman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tallman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallman
      • Tallman is located in Mason County
      • Tallman has also been known as:
      • Weaver
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tallman
      • From Orono to Tallman
    • Walhalla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Batcheller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batcheller
      • Batcheller is located in Mason County
      • Batcheller has also been known as:
      • Turtle Lake
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Batcheller
      • From Orono to Batcheller
  • Mecosta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orono, with the one closest to Orono listed first.
    • Paris
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Pogy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pogy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pogy
      • Pogy is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pogy
      • From Orono to Pogy
    • Big Rapids
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Chippewa Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rodney
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rodney have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodney
      • Rodney is located in Mecosta County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rodney <3>
    • Barryton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barryton have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barryton
      • Barryton is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 357 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Barryton <3>
    • Stanwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Canadian Lakes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mecosta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mecosta have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mecosta
      • Mecosta is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mecosta <3>
    • Borland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Borland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borland
      • Borland is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Borland
      • From Orono to Borland
    • Rustford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rustford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustford
      • Rustford is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rustford
      • From Orono to Rustford
    • Remus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Missaukee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orono, with the one closest to Orono listed first.
    • Stoney Corner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lucas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • McBain
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Jennings
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Vogel Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vogel Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vogel Center
      • Vogel Center is located in Missaukee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vogel Center
      • From Orono to Vogel Center
    • Falmouth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
      • Falmouth is located in Missaukee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falmouth <3>
  • Newaygo County
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orono, with the one closest to Orono listed first.
    • Benson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
      • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
      • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
      • Clay Hill
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hoxeyville
      • From Orono to Hoxeyville
    • Cadillac
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Millersville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
      • Millersville is located in Wexford County
    • Boon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
      • Boon is located in Wexford County
    • Haring
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Missaukee Junction
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Harrietta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrietta have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietta
      • Harrietta is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrietta <3>
    • Bond's Mills ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bond's Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bond's Mills
      • Bond's Mills is located in Wexford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bond's Mills
      • From Orono to Bond's Mills
    • Meauwataka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Yuma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma
      • Yuma is located in Wexford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuma
      • From Orono to Yuma

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

Cemeteries Near Orono ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orono.

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 Orono - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pinora Twp. Cemetery No. 1
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • German Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ashton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ashton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ashton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deer Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Mennonite Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mennonite Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mennonite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bitner Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bitner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bitner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chase Twp. Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (155 more) ...
    • St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hersey Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hersey Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hersey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • LeRoy Twp. Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the LeRoy Twp. Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the LeRoy Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.

Orono itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 148 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Orono ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orono.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orono, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orono.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Orono:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Orono, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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>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- Orono) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orono. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9374, Longitude: -85.5197       In this case, the coordinates for Orono have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).