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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 Pine Ridge (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 Pine Ridge. 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 Pine Ridge ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Pine Ridge: Pine Rdg. (or less commonly used: Pine Rdge. or Pine Ridg.)

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

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 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.

Pine Ridge is located in Saint Joseph 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 Saint Joseph County: Elkhart (IN), LaGrange (IN), Branch, Cass & Kalamazoo.

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

  • Saint Joseph County     (The home county of Pine Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Parkville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
    • Chamberlain
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Chamberlain is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
    • Three Rivers
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Mendon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Mendon is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mendon <1>
    • Centreville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
    • Fabius
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
    • Wasepi
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
    • Nottawa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Constantine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Fairfax
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Fairfax is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
    • Leonidas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bluff Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bluff Beach is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Beach
  • Allegan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Plainwell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Otsego
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Barry County
    • Doster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Doster is located in Barry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
  • Branch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Sherwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Sherwood is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
    • Matteson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Matteson is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
    • Union City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Bronson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Batavia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Batavia is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
    • Hodunk
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Hodunk is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodunk
    • Gilead
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Gilead is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
    • Hatmaker
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hatmaker is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatmaker
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Athens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • West Leroy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
    • East Leroy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
    • Fort Custer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
      • Former name for Fort Custer:
      • Camp Custer
    • Joppa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Joppa is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
    • Sonoma
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
    • Burlington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Burlington is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
    • Springfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Beadle Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Beadle Lake is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beadle Lake
    • Level Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Level Park is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Park
    • Oak Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Park is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
    • Battle Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Marcellus
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Corey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Corey is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
    • Jones
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Wakelee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Wakelee is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
    • Vandalia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Vandalia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
    • Penn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Penn is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
    • Brownsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Brownsville is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
    • Union
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cassopolis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • La Grange
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • La Grange is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
    • Dowagiac
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Edwardsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Schoolcraft
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Vicksburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Portage
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Pavillion Center
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
    • Fulton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Milwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Milwood is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwood
    • Oshtemo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Scotts
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Kalamazoo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Comstock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
    • Westwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
    • Eastwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Lawton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lawton is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <1>
    • Mattawan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Almena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Almena is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
    • Paw Paw
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Decatur
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • North Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • North Lake is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lake
    • Kendall
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Kendall is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
    • Glendale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Glendale is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Lawrence
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Gobles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Keeler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Keeler is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeler
    • Hartford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Elkhart County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Bristol
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Bristol is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,697 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <1>
    • Middlebury
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Simonton Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Lake
    • Garden Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Garden Village is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
    • Elkhart
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Elkhart is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52,172 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhart <1>
  • LaGrange County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pine Ridge, with the one closest to Pine Ridge listed first.
    • Scott
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Scott is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
    • Seyberts
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Seyberts is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
    • Shipshewana
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Howe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Brighton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Brighton is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
    • Greenfield Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenfield Mills is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
    • LaGrange
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • LaGrange is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaGrange
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,802 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaGrange <1>
    • Mongo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Pine Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pine Ridge.

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 Pine Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Moore Park Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Upper Flatbush Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Center Park Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Flowerfield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Flatbush Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Mint Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • South Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Parkville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Howardsville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Knobhill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Gregory's Episcopal Abbey Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bowman Park Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (322 more) ...
    • Scott Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Beadle Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

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

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

  • Flowerfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Flowerfield is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowerfield
  • Parkville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
  • Howardsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Howardsville is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardsville
  • Schoolcraft
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Three Rivers
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Vicksburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Fabius
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
  • Centreville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
  • Mendon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Mendon is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mendon <1>
  • Marcellus
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Corey
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Corey is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
  • Wasepi
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Portage
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Wakelee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Wakelee is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
    • Jones
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Pine Ridge. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pine Ridge.

Newspapers Published in Pine Ridge ...

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 184 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pine Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pine Ridge, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pine Ridge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Pine Ridge:

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 Pine Ridge, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pine Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.