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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 Lakes (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 Lakes. 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 Lakes ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Twin Lakes: Twin Lks.

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

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.

Twin Lakes is located in Houghton 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 Houghton County: Baraga, Iron, Keweenaw, Ontonagon & Ashland (WI).

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

  • Houghton County     (The home county of Twin Lakes)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lakes, with the one closest to Twin Lakes listed first.
    • Lake Roland
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Lake Roland is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Roland
    • Toivola
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Nisula
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Nisula is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisula
    • Hazel
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hazel is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
    • Elo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Elo is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elo
    • Champion Mine
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Champion Mine is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion Mine
    • Painesdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Painesdale is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painesdale
    • Baltic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Baltic is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltic
    • South Range
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Beacon Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Beacon Hill is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon Hill
    • Freda
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Freda is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freda
    • Atlantic Mine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Atlantic Mine is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic Mine
  • Baraga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lakes, with the one closest to Twin Lakes listed first.
    • Pelkie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bear Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Bear Town is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Town
    • Keweenaw Bay
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Keweenaw Bay is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keweenaw Bay
    • Baraga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Pequaming
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Pequaming is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequaming
    • L'Anse
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Alberta
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Alberta is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
    • Watton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Covington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Skanee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Ontonagon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Twin Lakes, with the one closest to Twin Lakes listed first.
    • Greenland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mass City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rousseau
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rousseau is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rousseau
    • Wainola
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Wainola is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wainola
    • Wasas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Wasas is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasas
    • Firesteel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Firesteel is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firesteel
    • Rockland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ontonagon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Gem
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gem is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
    • Paynesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
    • Green
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Green is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green
    • Bruce Crossing
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Twin Lakes ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Twin Lakes.

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 Twin Lakes - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Woodland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Toivola Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • St. Henrys Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Henrys Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Henrys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Nisula.
    • The St. Henrys Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Nisula Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2273104 <2>
  • Elo Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Alston Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Askel Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Methodist Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Pelkie Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Kargi Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Rousseau Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (43 more) ...
    • Keweenaw Bay Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Mountain View Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chassell Twp. Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Greenland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Pori
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Pori is located in Houghton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pori
  • Chassell
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Atlantic Mine
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Atlantic Mine is located in Houghton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic Mine
  • Baraga
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Rockland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Houghton
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Hancock
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • L'Anse
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pequaming
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Pequaming is located in Baraga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequaming
  • Ripley
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ripley is located in Houghton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
  • Oskar
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oskar is located in Houghton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oskar
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Ontonagon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Dollar Bay
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Boston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Boston is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston

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

Newspapers Published in Twin Lakes ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Twin Lakes.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Twin Lakes, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Twin Lakes.

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 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 Twin Lakes:

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 Twin Lakes, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Twin Lakes) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.