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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 Sugar Rapids (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 Sugar Rapids. 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 Sugar Rapids ...

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 Sugar Rapids: Sugar Rpds.

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.

Sugar Rapids is located in Gladwin 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 Gladwin County: Arenac, Bay, Clare, Isabella, Midland, Ogemaw & Roscommon.

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

  • Gladwin County     (The home county of Sugar Rapids)
  • Arenac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sugar Rapids, with the one closest to Sugar Rapids listed first.
    • Melita
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Melita. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
      • Melita is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Melita
      • From Sugar Rapids to Melita
    • Sterling
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sterling have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
      • Sterling is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 498 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sterling <2>
    • Standish
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standish have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
      • Standish is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,388 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Standish <2>
    • Maple Ridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Pine River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Saganing
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Arenac
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arenac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arenac
      • Arenac is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arenac
      • From Sugar Rapids to Arenac
    • Omer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Omer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omer
      • Omer is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
    • Whites Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Twining
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twining have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twining
      • Twining is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Turner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Turner is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
  • Bay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sugar Rapids, with the one closest to Sugar Rapids listed first.
    • Bentley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bentley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
      • Bentley is located in Bay County
    • Mount Forest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Nine Mile
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Pinconning
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pinconning have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinconning
      • Pinconning is located in Bay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pinconning <2>
    • Duel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Clare County
  • Isabella County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sugar Rapids, with the one closest to Sugar Rapids listed first.
    • Loomis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Vernon City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vernon City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon City
      • Vernon City is located in Isabella County
  • Midland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sugar Rapids, with the one closest to Sugar Rapids listed first.
    • Edenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenville
      • Edenville is located in Midland County
    • Hope
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
      • Hope is located in Midland County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hope <2>
    • Coleman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Alamando
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alamando. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamando
      • Alamando is located in Midland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alamando
      • From Sugar Rapids to Alamando
    • North Bradley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Sanford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Averill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Averill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averill
      • Averill is located in Midland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Averill
      • From Sugar Rapids to Averill
  • Ogemaw County
  • Roscommon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sugar Rapids, with the one closest to Sugar Rapids listed first.
    • Prudenville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prudenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudenville
      • Prudenville is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prudenville <2>
    • Saint Helen
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Geels
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Geels. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geels
      • Geels is located in Roscommon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Geels
      • From Sugar Rapids to Geels
    • Houghton Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake
      • Houghton Lake is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Houghton Lake <2>
    • Houghton Lake Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake Heights
      • Houghton Lake Heights is located in Roscommon County
    • Nellsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Roscommon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roscommon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscommon
      • Roscommon is located in Roscommon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscommon <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Sugar Rapids ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sugar Rapids.

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 Sugar Rapids covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • McClure Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Second Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Second Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Second Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Butman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ridge Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #749875 <4>
  • Highland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nolan Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nolan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nolan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edwards Twp. Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Skeel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skeel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skeel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gladwin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gladwin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gladwin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Garrity Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garrity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garrity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2376524 <4>
  • Grout Township Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (108 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.<6>

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

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

  • McClure
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McClure have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClure
    • McClure is located in Gladwin County
  • Butman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butman
    • Butman is located in Gladwin County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Butman
    • From Sugar Rapids to Butman
  • Gladwin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Meredith
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Greenwood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Greenwood is located in Ogemaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Greenwood
    • From Sugar Rapids to Greenwood
  • Beaverton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Alger
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • Alger is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alger <2>
  • West Branch
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Ogemaw Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Rhodes
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Prudenville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prudenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudenville
    • Prudenville is located in Roscommon County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prudenville <2>
  • Saint Helen
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Edenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenville
      • Edenville is located in Midland County
    • Sterling
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sterling have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
      • Sterling is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 498 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sterling <2>
    • Melita
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Melita. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
      • Melita is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Melita
      • From Sugar Rapids to Melita

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

Newspapers Published in Sugar Rapids ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sugar Rapids.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sugar Rapids, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sugar Rapids.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Sugar Rapids:

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

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>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.
<5>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- Sugar Rapids) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sugar Rapids. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0880, Longitude: -84.4075    
<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 Sugar Rapids, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025