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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 Twin 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 Twin 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 Twin 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 Twin Lake: Twin 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 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.

Twin Lake is located in Muskegon 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 Muskegon County: Kent, Newaygo, Oceana & Ottawa.

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

  • Muskegon County     (The home county of Twin Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lake, with the one closest to Twin Lake listed first.
    • Lakewood Club
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Club have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Holton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Dalton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Brunswick
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
      • Brunswick is located in Muskegon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brunswick
      • From Twin Lake to Brunswick
    • Wolf Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Wolf Lake is located in Muskegon County
    • Muskegon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • North Muskegon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Whitehall
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Montague
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montague have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Muskegon Heights
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Morgan Corners
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Roosevelt Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lake, with the one closest to Twin Lake listed first.
    • Casnovia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Casnovia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casnovia
      • Casnovia is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casnovia <2>
    • Kent City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent City
      • Kent City is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent City <2>
    • Lisbon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lisbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
      • Lisbon is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lisbon
      • From Twin Lake to Lisbon
    • Sparta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Newaygo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lake, with the one closest to Twin Lake listed first.
    • Sitka
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
      • Sitka is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sitka
      • From Twin Lake to Sitka
    • Reeman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Brookside
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
      • Brookside is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brookside
      • From Twin Lake to Brookside
    • Bridgeton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Fremont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Bishop
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Wooster
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wooster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooster
      • Wooster is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wooster
      • From Twin Lake to Wooster
    • Ashland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
      • Ashland is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashland
      • From Twin Lake to Ashland
    • Newaygo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newaygo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaygo
      • Newaygo is located in Newaygo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,099 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newaygo <2>
    • Aetna
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Huber
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Oceana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lake, with the one closest to Twin Lake listed first.
    • Rothbury
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Ferry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Hesperia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hesperia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • New Era
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Era have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Camp Claybanks ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Shelby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Cobmoosa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobmoosa
      • Cobmoosa is located in Oceana County
      • Cobmoosa has also been known as:
      • Cob Moo Sa
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cobmoosa
      • From Twin Lake to Cobmoosa
    • Elbridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
      • Elbridge is located in Oceana County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elbridge
      • From Twin Lake to Elbridge
    • Walkerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Hart
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Mears
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Ottawa County

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

Cemeteries Near Twin Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Twin 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 Twin Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Twin Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Twin Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Twin Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Horton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Horton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Horton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blue Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wave Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wave Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wave Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Anthonys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anthonys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Anthonys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Sprague Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Sprague Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Sprague Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fruitland Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fruitland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fruitland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (160 more) ...
    • Wilde Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilde Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilde Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Forest Home Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Home Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2524538 <4>
    • Shady Rest Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shady Rest Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shady Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Twin Lake had a population of 125 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Dalton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Holton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • North Muskegon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Muskegon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Whitehall
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Brookside
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
    • Brookside is located in Newaygo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Brookside
    • From Twin Lake to Brookside
  • Montague
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montague have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Muskegon Heights
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Cloverville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverville
    • Cloverville is located in Muskegon County
  • Bridgeton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Moorland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorland
    • Moorland is located in Muskegon County
  • Fremont
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Twin 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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Twin Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Twin Lake, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Twin Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Twin Lake:

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

The official website for Muskegon County: www.co.muskegon.mi.us/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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 Twin Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Twin Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Twin Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3630, Longitude: -86.1639       In this case, the coordinates for Twin Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025