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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 Saint Helen (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 Saint Helen. 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 Saint Helen ...

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: Saint Helens.

  • A typical abbreviation for Saint Helen: St. Helen

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 hospitals 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.

Saint Helen is located in Roscommon 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 Roscommon County: Clare, Crawford, Gladwin, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Ogemaw & Oscoda.

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

  • Roscommon County     (The home county of Saint Helen)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Helen, with the one closest to Saint Helen listed first.
    • Geels
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Geels. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geels
      • Geels is located in Roscommon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Geels
      • From Saint Helen to Geels
    • Roscommon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roscommon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscommon
      • Roscommon is located in Roscommon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscommon <3>
    • Prudenville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prudenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudenville
      • Prudenville is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prudenville <3>
    • Houghton Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake
      • Houghton Lake is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Houghton Lake <3>
    • Houghton Lake Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake Heights
      • Houghton Lake Heights is located in Roscommon County
    • Hillcrest
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Nellsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Higgins Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Higgins Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins Lake
      • Higgins Lake is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Higgins Lake <3>
    • Tent City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tent City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tent City
      • Tent City is located in Roscommon County
  • Alcona County
  • Arenac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Helen, with the one closest to Saint Helen listed first.
    • Melita
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Melita. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
      • Melita is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Melita
      • From Saint Helen to Melita
    • Maple Ridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sterling
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sterling have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
      • Sterling is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 498 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sterling <3>
  • Clare County
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Helen, with the one closest to Saint Helen listed first.
    • Deerheart Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pere Cheney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
      • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
      • Pere Cheney has also been known as:
      • Center Plains
      • Cheney
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pere Cheney
      • From Saint Helen to Pere Cheney
    • Skyline Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyline Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Village
      • Skyline Village is located in Crawford County
    • Grayling
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bucks
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bucks. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks
      • Bucks is located in Crawford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bucks
      • From Saint Helen to Bucks
    • McIntyre Landing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Gladwin County
  • Iosco County
  • Kalkaska County
    • Fletcher
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fletcher. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
      • Fletcher is located in Kalkaska County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fletcher
      • From Saint Helen to Fletcher
  • Missaukee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Helen, with the one closest to Saint Helen listed first.
    • Stratford ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stratford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
      • Stratford is located in Missaukee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stratford
      • From Saint Helen to Stratford
    • Merritt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Star City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star City
      • Star City is located in Missaukee County
    • Moorestown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Ogemaw County
  • Oscoda County

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

Cemeteries Near Saint Helen ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Saint Helen.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Lakeview Park Indian Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Park Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Park Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Beaver Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaver Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaver Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ogemaw Springs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ogemaw Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ogemaw Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fisk Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fisk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fisk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richfield Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brookside Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brookside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brookside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Damon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Damon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Damon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nolan Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nolan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nolan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Higgins Twp. Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Higgins Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Higgins Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (76 more) ...
    • Campbells Corners Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campbells Corners Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campbells Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rose Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Saint Helen had a population of 700 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Ogemaw Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • West Branch
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Damon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Prudenville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prudenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudenville
    • Prudenville is located in Roscommon County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prudenville <3>
  • Roscommon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roscommon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscommon
    • Roscommon is located in Roscommon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscommon <3>
  • Campbells Corners
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Butman
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butman
    • Butman is located in Gladwin County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Butman
    • From Saint Helen to Butman
  • Houghton Lake
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake
    • Houghton Lake is located in Roscommon County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Houghton Lake <3>
  • Selkirk
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selkirk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk
    • Selkirk is located in Ogemaw County
  • Meredith
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenwood
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Greenwood is located in Ogemaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Greenwood
    • From Saint Helen to Greenwood
  • Luzerne
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pere Cheney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
      • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
      • Pere Cheney has also been known as:
      • Center Plains
      • Cheney
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pere Cheney
      • From Saint Helen to Pere Cheney
    • Alger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
      • Alger is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alger <3>
    • McClure
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McClure have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClure
      • McClure is located in Gladwin County

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

Newspapers Published in Saint Helen ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Saint Helen.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Saint Helen, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Saint Helen.

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 Saint Helen:

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

The official website for Roscommon County: www.roscommoncounty.net/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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 Saint Helen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Saint Helen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Saint Helen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3635, Longitude: -84.4103    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025