RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Oceana County >> Stony Lake >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Michigan

The Commemorative Quarter for Michigan





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.

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 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 southwest 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 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.

Stony Lake is located in Oceana 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 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)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Camp Claybanks. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Claybanks
      • Camp Claybanks is located in Oceana County
    • New Era
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Era have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
      • New Era is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 440 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Era <3>
    • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
      • Hart is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,089 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hart <3>
    • Ferry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry
      • Ferry is located in Oceana County
    • French Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for French Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Town
      • French Town is located in Oceana County
    • Pentwater
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Elbridge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elbridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
      • Elbridge is located in Oceana County
    • Cobmoosa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cobmoosa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
      • Cobmoosa is located in Oceana County
      • Cobmoosa has also been known as:
      • Cob Moo Sa
    • Walkerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hesperia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hesperia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
      • Hesperia is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 936 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <3>
  • 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)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Meisenheimer Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meisenheimer Corners
      • Meisenheimer Corners is located in Mason County
    • Wiley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiley
      • Wiley is located in Mason County
      • Wiley has also been known as:
      • Wileys
    • White Pine Village ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pine Village
      • White Pine Village is located in Mason County
    • Buttersville ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Buttersville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttersville
      • Buttersville is located in Mason County
    • Ludington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Amber
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
      • Amber is located in Mason County
      • Amber has also been known as:
      • Slaughtburg
    • Scottville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottville
      • Scottville is located in Mason County
      • 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 <3>
    • Custer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
      • Custer is located in Mason County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
      • Former names for Custer:
      • Black Creek
      • Ferryville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Custer <3>
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montague have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague
      • Montague is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,365 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montague <3>
    • Sylvan Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Beach
      • Sylvan Beach is located in Muskegon County
    • Wabaningo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wabaningo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabaningo
      • Wabaningo is located in Muskegon County
    • Whitehall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakewood Club
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Club have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Club
      • Lakewood Club is located in Muskegon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,292 people
    • Dalton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
      • Dalton is located in Muskegon County
    • Twin Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twin Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lake
      • Twin Lake is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Twin Lake <3>
    • Holton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holton
      • Holton is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holton <3>
    • Brunswick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brunswick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
      • Brunswick is located in Muskegon County
    • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huber
      • Huber is located in Newaygo County
    • Reeman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeman
      • Reeman is located in Newaygo County
    • Brookside
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brookside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
      • Brookside is located in Newaygo County
    • Sitka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sitka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
      • Sitka is located in Newaygo County
    • Fremont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Newaygo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
      • Former name for Fremont:
      • Fremont Center
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <3>
    • Aetna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
      • Aetna is located in Newaygo County

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.

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 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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stony Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stony Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Gardner Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gardner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gardner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Stephen's Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Stephen's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stephen's Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Peace Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peace Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Flower Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flower Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flower Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cranston Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cranston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cranston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • First Shelby Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the First Shelby Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the First Shelby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hubbard Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hubbard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hubbard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (103 more) ...
    • Assumption Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Assumption Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Assumption Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Eagle Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eagle Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eagle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • New Era Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Era Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Era Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Era have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
    • New Era is located in Oceana County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 440 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Era <3>
  • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
    • Hart is located in Oceana County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,089 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hart <3>
  • Montague
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montague have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague
    • Montague is located in Muskegon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,365 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montague <3>
  • Whitehall
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Ferry
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry
    • Ferry is located in Oceana County
  • Pentwater
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Elbridge
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elbridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
    • Elbridge is located in Oceana County
  • Cobmoosa
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cobmoosa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
    • Cobmoosa is located in Oceana County
    • Cobmoosa has also been known as:
    • Cob Moo Sa
  • Crystal Valley
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Valley
    • Crystal Valley is located in Oceana County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Dalton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
      • Dalton is located in Muskegon County
    • Twin Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twin Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lake
      • Twin Lake is located in Muskegon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Twin Lake <3>
    • Hesperia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hesperia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
      • Hesperia is located in Oceana County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 936 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <3>

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]<5>. 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 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 Stony Lake:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Stony Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Oceana County: www.oceana.mi.us/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Stony Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Stony Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Stony Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5597, Longitude: -86.5001       In this case, the coordinates for Stony Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025