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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 Southgate (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 Southgate. 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 Southgate ...

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.

Another variation: South Gate.

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

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Southgate is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Macomb, Monroe, Oakland & Washtenaw.

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

  • Wayne County     (The home county of Southgate)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southgate, with the one closest to Southgate listed first.
    • Wyandotte
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Riverview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Allen Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ecorse
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincoln Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Taylor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Trenton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Melvindale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Woodhaven
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Grosse Ile
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • River Rouge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gibraltar
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Gibraltar is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibraltar
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,516 people
    • Dearborn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southgate, with the one closest to Southgate listed first.
    • Dalton Corners ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Dalton Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Corners
    • Van Dyke ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Van Dyke is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Dyke
    • Center Line
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Warren
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Warren is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
      • Warren has also been known as:
      • Cottageville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
    • Eastpointe
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Eastpointe is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastpointe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,720 people
      • Former names for Eastpointe:
      • East Detroit
      • Half-Way
      • Halfway
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eastpointe <1>
    • Spinnings ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Spinnings is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinnings
      • Spinnings has also been known as:
      • Spinning
    • Roseville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Eagle Poine ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Eagle Poine is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Poine
    • Saint Clair Shores
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fraser
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cady ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Cady is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
      • Cady has also been known as:
      • Cady's Corner
    • Plumb Brook ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Plumb Brook is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb Brook
      • Plumb Brook has also been known as:
      • Plum Brook
      • Plumbrook Village
      • Plumbrook
    • Red Run Corners ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Red Run Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run Corners
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southgate, with the one closest to Southgate listed first.
    • Flat Rock
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • South Rockwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Carleton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Newport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Grafton ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Grafton is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
    • Estral Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Estral Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estral Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
    • Steiner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Steiner is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steiner
    • Stony Point
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Stony Point is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Scofield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Scofield is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scofield
    • Detroit Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Detroit Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Detroit Beach
    • Woodland Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Woodland Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Beach
    • Maybee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakville is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
  • Oakland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southgate, with the one closest to Southgate listed first.
    • Oak Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Clarenceville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Clarenceville is located in Oakland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarenceville
    • Ferndale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Hazel Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Southfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Huntington Woods
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Farmington Acres
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Farmington Acres is located in Oakland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmington Acres
    • Berkley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Lathrup Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Madison Heights
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Royal Oak
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Farmington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Washtenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southgate, with the one closest to Southgate listed first.
    • Rawsonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Rawsonville is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawsonville
    • Willis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Whittaker
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Whittaker is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittaker
    • Ypsilanti
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Salem
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Salem is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Stony Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Stony Creek is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
    • Dixboro
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Dixboro is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixboro
    • Emery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Emery is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emery
    • Pittsfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Pittsfield is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsfield
      • Pittsfield has also been known as:
      • Pittsfield Village
    • Ann Arbor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Barton Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Barton Hills is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Saline
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Saline is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,350 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saline <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Southgate ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Southgate.

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 Southgate - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • West Mound Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Our Lady of Hope Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Ferndale Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Bloomdale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Ecorse Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • The Old Burial Ground
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Rucker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (314 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.<3>

While we didn't find Southgate in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Southgate.

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

  • Sibley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sibley is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibley
  • Wyandotte
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Ecorse
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Taylor Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Taylor Center is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Center
  • Trenton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Grosse Ile
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • River Rouge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Gibraltar
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Gibraltar is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibraltar
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,516 people
  • Delray
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Delray is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
  • Sunnyside
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunnyside is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Flat Rock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Dearborn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Inkster
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Romulus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Rockwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Southgate ...

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 508 newspapers that have been published in the area around Southgate.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Southgate. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Southgate and those printed in the larger area surrounding Southgate.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4> of Southgate.

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 websites either 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 Southgate:

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 Southgate, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Southgate) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.