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 Pleasant Lake (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 Pleasant Lake. 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 Pleasant Lake ...
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 Pleasant Lake: Pleasant Lk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Pleasant Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Pleasant Lake.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Pleasant Lake is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Calhoun, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Lenawee, Livingston & Washtenaw.
Below are the counties that are near Pleasant Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Pleasant Lake:
- Jackson County (The home county of Pleasant Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Munith
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Rives Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rives Junction is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives Junction
- Berryville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Berryville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
- Trist
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Trist is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trist
- Jackson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Jackson is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32,374 people
- Former name for Jackson:
- Jacksonopolis
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
- Tompkins
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Tompkins is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
- Waterloo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Waterloo is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Michigan Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Leoni
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Leoni is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoni
- Woodville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Woodville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
- Grass Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sandstone
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sandstone is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandstone
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Albion
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Duck Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Duck Lake is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Lake
- Rice Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Rice Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Creek
- Marengo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Marengo is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
- Homer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Bath
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Clinton Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Clinton Village is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton Village
- Eaton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Petrieville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Petrieville is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petrieville
- Eaton Rapids
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Charlesworth
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Charlesworth is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesworth
- Kingsland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kingsland is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsland
- Dimondale
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- West Windsor
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- West Windsor is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Windsor
- Millett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Millett is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millett
- Millett has also been known as:
- Milletts
- Potterville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Charlotte
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Waverly
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Waverly is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
- Olivet
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Ainger
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Ainger is located in Eaton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ainger
- Hillsdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Somerset Center
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Somerset Center is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Center
- Somerset
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Moscow
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Moscow is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Jerome
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Mosherville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mosherville is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosherville
- North Adams
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- North Adams is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Adams
- Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
- Ingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Fitchburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fitchburg is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Bunker Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bunker Hill is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Leslie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- North Leslie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- North Leslie is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leslie
- Stockbridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Onondaga
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Dansville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Mason
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pollok ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Pollok is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollok
- Pollok has also been known as:
- Pollock
- Holt
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Meridian
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Meridian is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Webberville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lenawee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Cement City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Cambridge Junction
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cambridge Junction is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Junction
- Devils Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Devils Lake is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Lake
- Addison Junction
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Addison Junction is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addison Junction
- Addison
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Onsted
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Manitou Beach - Devils Lake
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Manitou Beach
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Clinton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,287 people
- Tipton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Livingston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Gregory
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Plainfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Plainfield is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
- Unadilla
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Unadilla is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unadilla
- Kaiserville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Kaiserville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaiserville
- Chalkerville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Chalkerville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalkerville
- Chalkerville has also been known as:
- Chalkers Landing
- Parkers Corners
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Parkers Corners is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkers Corners
- Anderson
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Anderson is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Hell
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Hell is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hell
- Hell has also been known as:
- Hi Land Lake
- Highland Lake
- Hiland Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hell <1>
- Pinckney
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Chubb's Corners ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Chubb's Corners is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chubb's Corners
- Fowlerville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Pettysville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pettysville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettysville
- Shiawassee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Nicholson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Nicholson is located in Shiawassee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholson
- Shaftsburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Shaftsburg is located in Shiawassee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaftsburg
- Washtenaw County
- The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Chelsea
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Sharon Hollow
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Sharon Hollow is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon Hollow
- Rowes Corner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Rowes Corner is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowes Corner
- Dover
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Dover is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Hudson Mills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Hudson Mills is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson Mills
- Manchester
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dexter
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Delhi Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Delhi Mills is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi Mills
- Bridgewater
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Barton Hills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Barton Hills is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Pleasant Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Pleasant Lake.
Cemeteries Near Pleasant Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant Lake.
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 Pleasant Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Pleasant Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Coon Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Nims Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- East Rives Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rives Cemetery
- The East Rives Cemetery has also been known as:
- Blackmore Cemetery
- Freeman Cemetery
- Kirby Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #428 <2>
- Harrington Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jones Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fitchburg Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cole Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Munith Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Draper Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bond Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fifield Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (352 more) ...
- Blackman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Cherry Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Maxon 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.<3>
While we didn't find Pleasant Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pleasant Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Pleasant Lake, with the one closest to Pleasant Lake listed first.
- Roots
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Roots is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roots
- Munith
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Fitchburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fitchburg is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Rives Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rives Junction is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives Junction
- Bunker Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bunker Hill is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Leslie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Berryville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Berryville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
- Trist
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Trist is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trist
- Jackson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Jackson is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32,374 people
- Former name for Jackson:
- Jacksonopolis
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
- Stockbridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tompkins
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Tompkins is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
- Michigan Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Leoni
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Leoni is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoni
- Eden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Eden is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Waterloo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Waterloo is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Pleasant Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pleasant Lake.
Newspapers Published in Pleasant Lake ...
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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Lake, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pleasant Lake.
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 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 Pleasant Lake:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Calhoun County
- Clinton County
- Eaton County
- Hillsdale County
- Ingham County
- Lenawee County
- Livingston County
- Shiawassee County
- Washtenaw 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 Pleasant Lake, 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- Pleasant Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |