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 Sandy Beach (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 Sandy Beach. 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 Sandy Beach ...
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 Sandy Beach: Sandy Bch.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sandy Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sandy Beach.
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.
Sandy Beach is located in Saint Joseph 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 Saint Joseph County: Elkhart (IN), LaGrange (IN), Branch, Cass & Kalamazoo.
Below are the counties that are near Sandy Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sandy Beach:
- Saint Joseph County (The home county of Sandy Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Bluff Beach
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Bluff Beach is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Beach
- Klingers
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Klingers is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klingers
- Oakwood
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Oakwood is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
- Sturgis
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- White Pigeon
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Centreville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
- Constantine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Nottawa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Fawn River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Fawn River is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn River
- Wasepi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
- Findley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Findley is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Findley
- Three Rivers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Burr Oak
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Branch County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Bronson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Gilead
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Gilead is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
- Matteson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Matteson is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
- Sherwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Sherwood is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Hatmaker
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Hatmaker is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatmaker
- Batavia
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Batavia is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
- Union City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Coldwater
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Hodunk
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hodunk is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodunk
- Canada Shores
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Canada Shores is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada Shores
- Trailtree Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Trailtree Village is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trailtree Village
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Athens
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- East Leroy
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
- Burlington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Burlington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- West Leroy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Corey
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Corey is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
- Jones
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Union
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Marcellus
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wakelee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Wakelee is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
- Vandalia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Vandalia is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Penn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Penn is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Brownsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Brownsville is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Cassopolis
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Edwardsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- La Grange
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- La Grange is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
- Kalamazoo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Schoolcraft
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Vicksburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Fulton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Pavillion Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Portage
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Scotts
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Milwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Milwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwood
- Van Buren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Lawton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Decatur
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- DeKalb County (IN)
- Fairfield Center
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fairfield Center is located in DeKalb County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield Center
- Elkhart County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Middlebury
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bristol
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Millersburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Garden Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Garden Village is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
- Goshen
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Benton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Benton is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Dunlap
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Dunlap is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
- Simonton Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Lake
- Bainter Town
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bainter Town is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainter Town
- Elkhart
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- New Paris
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Foraker
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Foraker is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foraker
- Jamestown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jamestown is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Kosciusko County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Syracuse
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wawasee Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Wawasee Village is located in Kosciusko County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawasee Village
- Milford Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Milford Junction is located in Kosciusko County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Junction
- LaGrange County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Scott
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Scott is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
- Seyberts
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Seyberts is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
- Howe
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Shipshewana
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Brighton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brighton is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
- LaGrange
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mongo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Plato
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Plato is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
- Greenfield Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Greenfield Mills is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
- Valentine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Valentine is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine
- Topeka
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Brushy Prairie
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Brushy Prairie is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Prairie
- Wolcottville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Noble County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Cosperville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Cosperville is located in Noble County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosperville
- Ligonier
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Rome City
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Wawaka
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Brimfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Brimfield is located in Noble County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimfield
- Wakeville Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wakeville Village is located in Noble County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakeville Village
- Cromwell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Kimmell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Kendallville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Albion
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Saint Joseph County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Osceola
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Osceola is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,486 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osceola <1>
- Granger
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Steuben County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Orland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Jamestown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Jamestown is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Angola
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hudson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Lake is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sandy Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Sandy Beach.
Cemeteries Near Sandy Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sandy Beach.
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 Sandy Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sandy Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Newville Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Eagley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Eagley Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the east of Scott (IN).
- The Eagley Cemetery has also been known as:
- Callahan Cemetery
- Cowen Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2417739 <3>
- Salem Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Calhoun Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Grove Mennonite Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Barton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Oak Lawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- White Pigeon Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Bethel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sidener Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Oaklawn Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (314 more) ...
- Sturgis Memorial Gardens Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Constantine Twp. Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Sandy Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sandy Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sandy Beach, with the one closest to Sandy Beach listed first.
- Scott
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Scott is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
- Sturgis
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- White Pigeon
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Seyberts
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Seyberts is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
- Centreville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
- Constantine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Nottawa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Shipshewana
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Fawn River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Fawn River is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn River
- Wasepi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
- Vistula
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Vistula is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vistula
- Ontario
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ontario is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Three Rivers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Findley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Findley is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Findley
- Burr Oak
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sandy Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sandy Beach.
Newspapers Published in Sandy Beach ...
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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sandy Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sandy Beach, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sandy Beach.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Sandy Beach:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Saint Joseph County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Branch County
- Calhoun County
- Cass County
- Kalamazoo County
- Van Buren County
- DeKalb County
- Elkhart County
- Kosciusko County
- LaGrange County
- Noble County
- Saint Joseph County
- Steuben County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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> | 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- Sandy Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Sandy Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |