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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 Reed City (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 Reed City. 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 Reed City ...

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 have occurred.

Another variation: Read City.

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 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.

Reed City is located in Osceola County and is the County Seat.

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 Reed City. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Reed City:

  • Osceola County     (The home county of Reed City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Reed City, with the one closest to Reed City listed first.
    • Hersey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hersey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hersey
      • Hersey is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hersey <2>
    • Ashton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
      • Ashton is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashton
      • From Reed City to Ashton
    • Evart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evart
      • Evart is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evart <2>
    • Le Roy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Tustin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
      • Tustin is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <2>
    • Sears
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sears have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears
      • Sears is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sears <2>
    • Dighton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Avondale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
      • Avondale is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avondale
      • From Reed City to Avondale
    • Highland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Marion
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Park Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Clare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Reed City, with the one closest to Reed City listed first.
    • Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lake George
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Isabella County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Reed City, with the one closest to Reed City listed first.
    • Sherman City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Brinton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Weidman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weidman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weidman
      • Weidman is located in Isabella County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weidman <2>
    • Lake Isabella
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lake County
  • Manistee County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Reed City, with the one closest to Reed City listed first.
    • Carr
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Millerton
      • From Reed City to Millerton
    • Walhalla
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Mecosta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Reed City, with the one closest to Reed City listed first.
    • Paris
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Pogy
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pogy
      • Pogy is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pogy
      • From Reed City to Pogy
    • Big Rapids
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rapids
      • Big Rapids is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,408 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Rapids <2>
    • Chippewa Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rodney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rodney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Stanwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Barryton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barryton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Canadian Lakes
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mecosta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mecosta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Borland
      (23 miles [37 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borland
      • Borland is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Borland
      • From Reed City to Borland
    • Morley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
      • Morley is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 495 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morley <2>
    • Rustford
      (26 miles [41.8 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustford
      • Rustford is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rustford
      • From Reed City to Rustford
    • Remus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Missaukee County
  • Newaygo County
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Reed City, with the one closest to Reed City listed first.
    • Benson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 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.<3>
      • 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 Reed City to Hoxeyville
    • Cadillac
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Boon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
      • Boon is located in Wexford County
    • Haring
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Missaukee Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Reed City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Reed City.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Woodland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mennonite Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bitner Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hersey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • German Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crapo Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crapo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crapo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pinora Twp. Cemetery No. 1
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Chase Twp. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (163 more) ...
    • Oakdale Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakdale Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1397 <4>
    • St. Anne's 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Reed City had a population of 1,776 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Reed City had a population of 2,374 people.

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

  • Hersey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hersey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hersey
    • Hersey is located in Osceola County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hersey <2>
  • Orono
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orono have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orono
    • Orono is located in Osceola County
  • Hawkins
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ashton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
    • Ashton is located in Osceola County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ashton
    • From Reed City to Ashton
  • Chase
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Paris
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Nirvana
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Big Rapids
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rapids
    • Big Rapids is located in Mecosta County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,408 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Rapids <2>
  • Evart
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evart
    • Evart is located in Osceola County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evart <2>
  • Le Roy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Chippewa Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Luther
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Tustin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
      • Tustin is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <2>
    • Bristol
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Woodville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
      • Woodville is located in Newaygo County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Reed City ...

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 Reed City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Reed City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Reed City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Reed City.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Reed City.

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 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 Reed City:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Reed City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Reed City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Reed City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8760, Longitude: -85.5100    
<6>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 Reed City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025