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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 Sterling Heights (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 Sterling Heights. 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 Sterling Heights ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Sterling Heights: Sterling Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 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.

Sterling Heights is located in Macomb 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 Macomb County: Lapeer, Oakland, Saint Clair & Wayne.

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

  • Macomb County     (The home county of Sterling Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling Heights, with the one closest to Sterling Heights listed first.
    • Plumb Brook ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plumb Brook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb Brook
      • Plumb Brook is located in Macomb County
      • Plumb Brook has also been known as:
      • Plum Brook
      • Plumbrook Village
      • Plumbrook
    • Dresden Village ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dresden Village. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresden Village
      • Dresden Village is located in Macomb County
    • Cady ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
      • Cady is located in Macomb County
      • Cady has also been known as:
      • Cady's Corner
    • Red Run Corners ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Red Run Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run Corners
      • Red Run Corners is located in Macomb County
    • Utica
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
      • Utica is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,062 people
      • Former names for Utica:
      • Hog Hollow
      • McDougalville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Utica <2>
    • Spinnings ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spinnings. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinnings
      • Spinnings is located in Macomb County
      • Spinnings has also been known as:
      • Spinning
    • Shelby Village ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shelby Village. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby Village
      • Shelby Village is located in Macomb County
    • Clinton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clinton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
      • Clinton is located in Macomb County
    • Frankfort ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Frankfort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
      • Frankfort is located in Macomb County
    • South Waldenburg ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Waldenburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Waldenburg
      • South Waldenburg is located in Macomb County
      • South Waldenburg has also been known as:
      • Bobceans Corners
    • Fraser
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraser have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraser
      • Fraser is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,331 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fraser <2>
    • Center Line
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Line have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Line
      • Center Line is located in Macomb County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,090 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Line <2>
  • Lapeer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling Heights, with the one closest to Sterling Heights listed first.
    • Almont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont
      • Almont is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,815 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almont <2>
    • Dryden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dryden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden
      • Dryden is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 938 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dryden <2>
    • Metamora
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Imlay City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Imlay City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imlay City
      • Imlay City is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,585 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Imlay City <2>
  • Oakland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling Heights, with the one closest to Sterling Heights listed first.
    • Big Beaver
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
      • Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
    • Clawson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Troy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
      • Troy is located in Oakland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83,589 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <2>
    • Yates
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yates have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates
      • Yates is located in Oakland County
    • Madison Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rochester Hills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochester Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Hills
      • Rochester Hills is located in Oakland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,111 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochester Hills <2>
    • Rochester
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Royal Oak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Berkley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ferndale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Birmingham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Charing Cross
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charing Cross have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charing Cross
      • Charing Cross is located in Oakland County
  • Saint Clair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling Heights, with the one closest to Sterling Heights listed first.
    • Anchorville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorville
      • Anchorville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Fair Haven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
      • Fair Haven is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fair Haven <2>
    • Perch Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perch Point
      • Perch Point is located in Saint Clair County
    • Casco
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casco
      • Casco is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casco <2>
    • Pearl Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearl Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl Beach
      • Pearl Beach is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl Beach <2>
    • Starville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starville
      • Starville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Allenton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenton
      • Allenton is located in Saint Clair County
    • Berville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berville
      • Berville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Belle River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
      • Belle River is located in Saint Clair County
    • Peters
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
      • Peters is located in Saint Clair County
    • Grande Pointe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grande Pointe
      • Grande Pointe is located in Saint Clair County
    • Adair
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adair have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair
      • Adair is located in Saint Clair County
  • Washtenaw County
    • Salem
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
      • Salem is located in Washtenaw County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sterling Heights, with the one closest to Sterling Heights listed first.
    • Grosse Pointe Woods
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Harper Woods
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harper Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper Woods
      • Harper Woods is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,651 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harper Woods <2>
    • Hamtramck
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Highland Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Highland Park is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,712 people
    • Grosse Pointe Shores
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Grosse Pointe Farms
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Strathmoor ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Strathmoor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathmoor
      • Strathmoor is located in Wayne County
    • Grosse Pointe Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grosse Pointe Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grosse Pointe Park
      • Grosse Pointe Park is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,972 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grosse Pointe Park <2>
    • Grosse Pointe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grosse Pointe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grosse Pointe
      • Grosse Pointe is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grosse Pointe <2>
    • Detroit
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Brightmoor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightmoor
      • Brightmoor is located in Wayne County
    • Beech
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beech have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech
      • Beech is located in Wayne County

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

Newspapers Published in Sterling Heights ...

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 484 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sterling Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sterling Heights, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sterling Heights.

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 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 Sterling Heights:

Cemeteries Near Sterling Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sterling Heights.

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 Sterling Heights covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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.<6>

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

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

  • Cady ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cady
    • Cady is located in Macomb County
    • Cady has also been known as:
    • Cady's Corner
  • Utica
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
    • Utica is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,062 people
    • Former names for Utica:
    • Hog Hollow
    • McDougalville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Utica <2>
  • Big Beaver
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
    • Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
  • Fraser
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraser have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraser
    • Fraser is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,331 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fraser <2>
  • Clawson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Warren
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
    • Warren is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 132,877 people
    • Warren has also been known as:
    • Cottageville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <2>
  • Troy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
    • Troy is located in Oakland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 83,589 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <2>
  • Disco ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Disco
    • Disco is located in Macomb County
    • Former name for Disco:
    • Whiskey Center
  • Roseville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mount Clemens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clemens
    • Mount Clemens is located in Macomb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,013 people
    • Former names for Mount Clemens:
    • Big Springs
    • High Banks
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Clemens <2>
  • Waldenburg ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waldenburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldenburg
    • Waldenburg is located in Macomb County
  • Royal Oak
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Shelby ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Macomb County
      • Shelby has also been known as:
      • Shelby Crossing
      • Shelby Station
    • Rochester
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Birmingham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)

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

The official website for Sterling Heights: www.ci.sterling-heights.mi.us/

The official website for Macomb County: www.macombcountymi.gov/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sterling Heights) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sterling Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5800, Longitude: -83.0305       In this case, the coordinates for Sterling Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Sterling Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024