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 Stony 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 Stony 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 Stony 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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Stony Lake: Stony Lk.
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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Stony Lake is located in Oceana 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 Oceana County: Lake, Mason, Muskegon & Newaygo.
Below are the counties that are near Stony Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Stony Lake:
- Oceana County (The home county of Stony Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Stony Lake, with the one closest to Stony Lake listed first.
- Camp Claybanks ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Camp Claybanks was located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Claybanks
- New Era
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Shelby
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rothbury
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mears
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hart
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hart is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,089 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hart <1>
- Ferry
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Ferry is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry
- French Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- French Town is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Town
- Pentwater
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Elbridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Elbridge is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
- Cobmoosa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cobmoosa is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
- Cobmoosa has also been known as:
- Cob Moo Sa
- Walkerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hesperia
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mason County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stony Lake, with the one closest to Stony Lake listed first.
- Meisenheimer Corners
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Wiley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wiley is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiley
- Wiley has also been known as:
- Wileys
- Fern
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Fern is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
- Fern has also been known as:
- Adamsville
- White Pine Village ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- White Pine Village was located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pine Village
- Buttersville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Buttersville was located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttersville
- Ludington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Amber
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Amber is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
- Amber has also been known as:
- Slaughtburg
- Scottville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Scottville is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,209 people
- Scottville has also been known as:
- Mason Center
- Sweetland
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scottville <1>
- Custer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Muskegon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stony Lake, with the one closest to Stony Lake listed first.
- Montague
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sylvan Beach
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Sylvan Beach is located in Muskegon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Beach
- Wabaningo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Wabaningo is located in Muskegon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabaningo
- Whitehall
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lakewood Club
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lakewood Club is located in Muskegon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Club
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,292 people
- Dalton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dalton is located in Muskegon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
- Twin Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Holton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Brunswick
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Brunswick is located in Muskegon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
- North Muskegon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Muskegon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Muskegon Heights
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Roosevelt Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Newaygo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stony Lake, with the one closest to Stony Lake listed first.
- Huber
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Huber is located in Newaygo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huber
- Reeman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Reeman is located in Newaygo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeman
- Brookside
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Brookside is located in Newaygo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Sitka
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sitka is located in Newaygo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
- Fremont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fremont is located in Newaygo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
- Former name for Fremont:
- Fremont Center
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <1>
- Aetna
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Aetna is located in Newaygo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Stony Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Stony Lake.
Cemeteries Near Stony Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stony 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 Stony Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Stony Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Stony Lake, with the one closest to Stony Lake listed first.
- Stony Lake Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Gardner Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Stephen's Lutheran Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. John's Catholic Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Peace Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Flower Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Cranston Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- First Shelby Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hubbard Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (103 more) ...
- Assumption Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Eagle Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- New Era Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
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>
While we didn't find Stony Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Stony Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Stony Lake, with the one closest to Stony Lake listed first.
- New Era
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Shelby
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rothbury
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mears
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hart
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hart is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,089 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hart <1>
- Montague
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Whitehall
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ferry
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Ferry is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry
- Pentwater
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Elbridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Elbridge is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
- Cobmoosa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cobmoosa is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
- Cobmoosa has also been known as:
- Cob Moo Sa
- Crystal Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Crystal Valley is also located in Oceana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Valley
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Dalton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dalton is located in Muskegon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
- Twin Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Holton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Stony Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Stony Lake.
Newspapers Published in Stony 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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Stony Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Stony Lake, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Stony Lake.
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 helpful 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 Stony Lake:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Oceana County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Mason County
- Muskegon County
- Newaygo 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> | 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 Stony Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Stony Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |