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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 Rochester (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 Rochester. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Rochester is located in Oakland 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 Oakland County: Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Washtenaw & Wayne.

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

  • Oakland County     (The home county of Rochester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Lake Orion Junction ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Stony Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Rochester Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Yates
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yates. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates
      • Yates is located in Oakland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yates
      • From Rochester to Yates
    • Goodison
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goodison. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodison
      • Goodison is located in Oakland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Goodison
      • From Rochester to Goodison
    • Auburn Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Decker ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Decker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decker
      • Decker is located in Oakland County
      • Decker has also been known as:
      • Decker Settlement
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Decker
      • From Rochester to Decker
    • Troy
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Auburn Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kline ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kline. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kline
      • Kline is located in Oakland County
      • Kline has also been known as:
      • Kline Settlement
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kline
      • From Rochester to Kline
    • Rudds Mill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rudds Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudds Mill
      • Rudds Mill is located in Oakland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rudds Mill
      • From Rochester to Rudds Mill
    • Oak Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
      • Oak Grove is located in Oakland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oak Grove
      • From Rochester to Oak Grove
  • Genesee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Goodrich
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Atlas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlas have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
      • Atlas is located in Genesee County
    • Grand Blanc
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fenton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fenton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
      • Fenton is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,374 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fenton <2>
    • Lakeside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Lapeer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Almont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont
      • Almont is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,815 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almont <2>
    • Dryden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Metamora
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunters Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Imlay City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Hadley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hadley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
      • Hadley is located in Lapeer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hadley <2>
    • Attica
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Attica have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
      • Attica is located in Lapeer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Attica <2>
    • Lapeer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lapeer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapeer
      • Lapeer is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,452 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lapeer <2>
    • Lum
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Livingston County
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rochester, with the one closest to Rochester listed first.
    • Depew ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Depew. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depew
      • Depew is located in Macomb County
      • Depew has also been known as:
      • Depew Siding
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Depew
      • From Rochester to Depew
    • Shelby ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shelby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Macomb County
      • Shelby has also been known as:
      • Shelby Crossing
      • Shelby Station
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shelby
      • From Rochester to Shelby
    • Mount Vernon ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Shelby Village ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Disco ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Washington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crissmanville ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Utica
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cooley's Corners ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Prestonville ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prestonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prestonville
      • Prestonville is located in Macomb County
      • Prestonville has also been known as:
      • Preston Corners
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Prestonville
      • From Rochester to Prestonville
    • Grays' Mills ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grays' Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays' Mills
      • Grays' Mills is located in Macomb County
      • Former names for Grays' Mills:
      • Clifton Mill
      • Clifton Village
      • Clifton
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Grays' Mills
      • From Rochester to Grays' Mills
    • Dresden Village ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Saint Clair County
  • Washtenaw County
  • Wayne County

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

Cemeteries Near Rochester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rochester.

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 Rochester covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Rochester had a population of 900 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Rochester had a population of 13,201 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Rochester ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rochester.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Rochester. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Rochester and those printed in the larger area surrounding Rochester.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6> of Rochester.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Rochester:

The official website for Rochester: www.ci.rochester.mi.us/

The official website for Oakland County: www.co.oakland.mi.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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 Rochester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Rochester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rochester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6821, Longitude: -83.1338    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025