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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 Ignace (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 Ignace. 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 Ignace ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Saint Ignace: St. Ignace

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

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Saint Ignace is located in Mackinac County and is the County Seat.

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 Mackinac County: Chippewa, Luce & Schoolcraft.

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

  • Mackinac County     (The home county of Saint Ignace)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Ignace, with the one closest to Saint Ignace listed first.
    • British Landing
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • British Landing is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for British Landing
    • Gros Cap
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Gros Cap is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gros Cap
    • Mackinac Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Allenville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Allenville is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
    • Moran
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pontchartrain Shores
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Pontchartrain Shores is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontchartrain Shores
    • Pointe Aux Pins
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Simmons ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Simmons is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons
    • Hessel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kenneth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Kenneth is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneth
    • Cedarville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ozark
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Ozark is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozark
  • Cheboygan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Ignace, with the one closest to Saint Ignace listed first.
    • Point Nipigon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Point Nipigon is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Nipigon
      • Point Nipigon has also been known as:
      • Point Nip-i-gon
    • Cheboygan
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Riggsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville
    • Mullett Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Mullett Lake is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullett Lake
    • Silver Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Silver Beach is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Long Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Long Point is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
    • Veery Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Veery Point is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veery Point
    • Giauque Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Giauque Beach is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giauque Beach
    • Topinabee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Burt Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Ignace, with the one closest to Saint Ignace listed first.
    • Dick
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Dick is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
    • Dryburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Dryburg is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryburg
    • Fibre
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Fibre is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fibre
    • Rudyard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Pickford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Trout Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Stalwart
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Stalwart is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stalwart
    • Kinross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Stirlingville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Stirlingville is located in Chippewa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stirlingville
  • Emmet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saint Ignace, with the one closest to Saint Ignace listed first.
    • Mackinaw City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Carp Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bliss
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bliss is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
    • Levering
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Van
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Van is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
    • Pellston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Cross Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Marsh Corner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Marsh Corner is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Corner
    • Brutus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Good Hart
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Middle Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Middle Village is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Village
    • Stutsmanville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Stutsmanville is located in Emmet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stutsmanville

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

Cemeteries Near Saint Ignace ...

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

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 Saint Ignace - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Ignace's Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Gros Gap Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Mackinac Island Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Mackinaw City Bible Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Ft. Mackinac Post Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Indian Burial Ground
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Brevort Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Carp River Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • St. Ignace Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (68 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Saint Ignace had a population of 2,704 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Saint Ignace had a population of 2,325 people.

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

  • Mackinaw City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Mackinac Island
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Mackinac Island is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinac Island
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
  • Freedom
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Freedom is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
  • Moran
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Carp Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Bliss
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bliss is located in Emmet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
  • Pointe Aux Pins
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Levering
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Hessel
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Brevort
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Brevort is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevort
  • Cheboygan
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Cedarville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cross Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pellston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Riggsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Riggsville is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riggsville

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Saint Ignace ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Saint Ignace.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Saint Ignace. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Saint Ignace and those printed in the larger area surrounding Saint Ignace.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3> of Saint Ignace.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Saint Ignace:

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