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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 Sunset Beach (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 Sunset Beach. 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 Sunset Beach ...

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 Sunset Beach: Sunset Bch.

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

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 doctors 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.

Sunset Beach is located in Schoolcraft 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 Schoolcraft County: Alger, Delta, Luce & Mackinac.

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

  • Schoolcraft County     (The home county of Sunset Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Beach, with the one closest to Sunset Beach listed first.
    • Minor Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Minor Beach is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor Beach
    • Copenhagen Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Copenhagen Beach is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen Beach
    • Manistique
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Elkhorn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Elkhorn is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Cooks
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Gulliver
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Steuben
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Steuben is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steuben
    • Parkington ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Parkington is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkington
    • Blaney Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Blaney Junction is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaney Junction
    • Creighton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Creighton is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creighton
    • Walsh
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Walsh is located in Schoolcraft County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsh
    • Germfask
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Alger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Beach, with the one closest to Sunset Beach listed first.
    • Shingleton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Doty
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Doty is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doty
    • Juniper
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Juniper is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper
  • Delta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Beach, with the one closest to Sunset Beach listed first.
    • Garden Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Garden Corners is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Corners
    • Isabella
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Isabella is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
    • Garden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Nahma
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Devils Corner
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Devils Corner is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Corner
    • Saint Jacques
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Saint Jacques is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Jacques
    • Fayette ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Fayette is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Ogontz
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Ogontz is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogontz
    • Garth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Garth is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garth
  • Mackinac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Beach, with the one closest to Sunset Beach listed first.
    • Port Inland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Port Inland is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Inland
    • Huntspur
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Huntspur is located in Mackinac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntspur
      • Huntspur has also been known as:
      • Hunt Spur

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

Cemeteries Near Sunset Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunset Beach.

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 Sunset Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Thompson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Old Cooks Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Cooks Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • New Garden Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Farley Grave Site
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Byers Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Hiawatha Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Woods Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Cousineau - Potvin Family Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Bailey Family Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kates Bay Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Isabella Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)

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 Sunset Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sunset Beach.

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

  • Manistique
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Thompson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Thompson is located in Schoolcraft County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
  • Cooks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Isabella
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Isabella is located in Delta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
  • Gulliver
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Garden
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Nahma
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Ogontz
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Ogontz is located in Delta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogontz
  • Fayette ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Fayette is located in Delta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
  • Creighton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Creighton is located in Schoolcraft County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creighton
  • Ensign
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Ensign is located in Delta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ensign
  • Shingleton
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Germfask
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Corinne
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Corinne is located in Mackinac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne

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

Newspapers Published in Sunset Beach ...

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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunset Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sunset Beach, there are papers which were published within 3 miles [4.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sunset Beach.

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 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 Sunset Beach:

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 Sunset Beach, 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 from Point A (ie- Sunset Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.