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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 Watson (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 Watson. 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.

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 and 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.

Watson is located in Allegan 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 Allegan County: Barry, Kalamazoo, Kent, Ottawa & Van Buren.

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

  • Allegan County     (The home county of Watson)
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Doster
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
      • Doster is located in Barry County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Doster
      • From Watson to Doster
    • Prairieville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Cloverdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Delton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Middleville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleville
      • Middleville is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middleville <1>
    • Hickory Corners
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Irving
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cedar Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
      • Cedar Creek is located in Barry County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cedar Creek
      • From Watson to Cedar Creek
    • Banfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Dowling
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Hastings
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Freeport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <1>
    • Morgan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Morgan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
      • Morgan is located in Barry County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Morgan
      • From Watson to Morgan
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Bedford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bedford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford
      • Bedford is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bedford <1>
    • Fort Custer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Custer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
      • Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
      • Former name for Fort Custer:
      • Camp Custer
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fort Custer
      • From Watson to Fort Custer
    • Level Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Park. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Oak Park is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oak Park
      • From Watson to Oak Park
    • Springfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
      • Springfield is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,184 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springfield <1>
    • Battle Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • West Leroy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Leroy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
      • West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to West Leroy
      • From Watson to West Leroy
  • Ionia County
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Alamo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • East Cooper
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Cooper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cooper
      • East Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to East Cooper
      • From Watson to East Cooper
    • Westwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Parchment
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parchment have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parchment
      • Parchment is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,825 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parchment <1>
    • Richland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Richland is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 847 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <1>
    • Kalamazoo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Eastwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
      • Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Highland Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • South Gull Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Gull Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gull Lake
      • South Gull Lake is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Yorkville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yorkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
      • Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yorkville
      • From Watson to Yorkville
    • Oshtemo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Comstock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comstock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
      • Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Milwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Kent County
  • Ottawa County
  • Van Buren County

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

Cemeteries Near Watson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watson.

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

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

  • Hicks Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hicks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hicks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Miner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Martin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain Home Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Martin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blackman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pine Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Margaret Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Margaret Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Margaret Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ingerson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ingerson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ingerson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (306 more) ...
    • Ives Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ives Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ives Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Selkirk Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Selkirk Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Selkirk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hudson Corners Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hudson Corners Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hudson Corners 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Watson had a population of 82 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Martin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Otsego
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Shelbyville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hopkins
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hopkins have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins
    • Hopkins is located in Allegan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 605 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hopkins <1>
  • Plainwell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hooper
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hooper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper
    • Hooper is located in Allegan County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hooper
    • From Watson to Hooper
  • Bradley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
    • Bradley is located in Allegan County
  • Allegan
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • South Monterey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Doster
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
    • Doster is located in Barry County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Doster
    • From Watson to Doster
  • Wayland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wayland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland
    • Wayland is located in Allegan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,237 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wayland <1>
  • Hilliards
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Millgrove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millgrove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millgrove
      • Millgrove is located in Allegan County
      • Millgrove has also been known as:
      • Mill Grove
    • Alamo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Cooper
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooper have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
      • Cooper is located in Kalamazoo County

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

Newspapers Published in Watson ...

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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watson, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watson.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Watson:

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

The official website for Allegan County: www.allegancounty.org/

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

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 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>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>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Allegan and Otsego. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Watson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Watson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5371, Longitude: -85.7016    
<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 Watson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025