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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 Sand 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 Sand 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 Sand 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 Sand Lake: Sand Lk.

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

Sand Lake is located in Iosco 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 Iosco County: Alcona, Arenac, Ogemaw & Oscoda.

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

  • Iosco County     (The home county of Sand Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • White Rock ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • White Rock is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
    • National City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Hale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Tawas City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Whittemore
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • East Tawas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Sid Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Sid Town is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sid Town
    • Wilber
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilber is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilber
    • Long Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Foote Site Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Foote Site Village is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foote Site Village
    • Au Sable
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Au Sable is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Au Sable
    • Oscoda
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Alcona County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Glennie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Curtisville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Curtisville is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
    • Mikado
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Barton City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Greenbush
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Gustin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Gustin is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustin
    • Curran
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Springport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Springport is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springport
    • Harrisville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Arenac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Turner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Turner is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Harmon City Heights
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Harmon City Heights is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmon City Heights
    • Twining
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Twining is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twining
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Maple Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Maple Ridge is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
    • Au Gres
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Omer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Omer is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
    • Melita
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Melita is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
    • Arenac
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Arenac is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arenac
    • Pine River
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine River is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine River
    • Sterling
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Standish
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Whites Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Whites Beach is located in Arenac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whites Beach
  • Ogemaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • South Branch
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Prescott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lupton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Skidway Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Fayettes Corner ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Fayettes Corner is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayettes Corner
    • Campbells Corners
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
    • Rose City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Greenwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Greenwood is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • West Branch
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Damon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
    • Ogemaw Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Ogemaw Springs is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogemaw Springs
  • Oscoda County
    • McKinley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • McKinley is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley

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

Cemeteries Near Sand Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sand 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 Sand Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Pine Top Rest Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Laidlaw Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Poor Farm Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Pioneer Plains Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Reno Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reno Cemetery
    • The Reno Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Reno Twp. Cemetery
  • Zion Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Esmond Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Immaculate Heart of Mary's Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Memory Gardens Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Wilber Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Johnson Creek Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alabaster Twp. Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Burleigh Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)

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 Sand Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sand Lake.

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

  • McIvor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • McIvor is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIvor
  • Hale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Whittemore
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Tawas City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • East Tawas
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Wilber
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilber is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilber
  • Alabaster
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Alabaster is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabaster
  • Long Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bryant
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Bryant is located in Alcona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
  • Prescott
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Maple Ridge
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Ridge is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
  • Au Gres
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Au Sable
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Au Sable is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Au Sable
    • Oscoda
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Selkirk
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Selkirk is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk

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

Newspapers Published in Sand 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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sand Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sand Lake, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sand Lake.

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 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 Sand Lake:

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 Sand 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sand Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.