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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Watson. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Watson to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Watson, please Contact Us.

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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Watson is historic, it would have been located within present day Marquette 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 Marquette County: Alger, Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Iron & Menominee.

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:

  • Marquette County     (The home county of Watson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Arnold
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnold have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <3>
    • Reade
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Reade. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reade
      • Reade is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Reade
      • From Watson to Reade
    • Northland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • McFarland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Helena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
      • Helena is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Helena
      • From Watson to Helena
    • Austin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Gwinn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Little Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake
      • Little Lake is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Lake <3>
    • Carlshend
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carlshend. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlshend
      • Carlshend is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carlshend
      • From Watson to Carlshend
    • Skandia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skandia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skandia
      • Skandia is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skandia <3>
    • New Dalton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Dalton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Dalton
      • New Dalton is located in Marquette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Dalton
      • From Watson to New Dalton
    • Sands
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Alger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Diffin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Diffin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diffin
      • Diffin is located in Alger County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Diffin
      • From Watson to Diffin
    • Trenary
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trenary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenary
      • Trenary is located in Alger County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenary <3>
    • Dorsey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dorsey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorsey
      • Dorsey is located in Alger County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dorsey
      • From Watson to Dorsey
    • Traunik
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rumely
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Delta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Saint Nicholas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Rock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Trombly
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Lathrop
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lathrop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lathrop
      • Lathrop is located in Delta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lathrop
      • From Watson to Lathrop
    • Cornell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cornell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
      • Cornell is located in Delta County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cornell <3>
    • Beaver
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaver. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
      • Beaver is located in Delta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Beaver
      • From Watson to Beaver
    • Perkins
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Chandler
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brampton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Flat Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
      • Flat Rock is located in Delta County
    • Schaffer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Chaison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Dickinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Foster City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster City
      • Foster City is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foster City <3>
    • Ralph
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Felch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Felch Mountain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Turner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner
      • Turner is located in Dickinson County
    • Loretto
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Vulcan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vulcan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
      • Vulcan is located in Dickinson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vulcan <3>
    • Norway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norway
      • Norway is located in Dickinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,714 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norway <3>
  • Menominee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • LaBranche
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Dryads ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dryads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryads
      • Dryads is located in Menominee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dryads
      • From Watson to Dryads
    • Perronville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Wilson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Harris
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harris have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
      • Harris is located in Menominee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harris <3>
    • Spalding
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Powers
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers
      • Powers is located in Menominee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Powers <3>
    • Hermansville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermansville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermansville
      • Hermansville is located in Menominee County
    • Nadeau
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nadeau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nadeau
      • Nadeau is located in Menominee County
    • Blom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Carney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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.

  • Forest Home Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Nicholas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Nicholas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Rock Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Ridge Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lathrop Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lathrop Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lathrop Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillview Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Foster City Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foster City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foster City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michaels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Perkins Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Flat Rock Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flat Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flat Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (44 more) ...
    • Gwinn Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Ralph Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ralph Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ralph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Schaffer Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Schaffer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Schaffer 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.

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

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

  • Faunus ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Faunus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faunus
    • Faunus is located in Menominee County
  • Dryads ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dryads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryads
    • Dryads is located in Menominee County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dryads
    • From Watson to Dryads
  • Rock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Lathrop
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lathrop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lathrop
    • Lathrop is located in Delta County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lathrop
    • From Watson to Lathrop
  • Hardwood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hardwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwood
    • Hardwood is located in Dickinson County
  • Hylas ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hylas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hylas
    • Hylas is located in Dickinson County
  • Whitney
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney
    • Whitney is located in Menominee County
  • Campbell
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Campbell is located in Delta County
  • McFarland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Beaver
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaver. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
    • Beaver is located in Delta County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Beaver
    • From Watson to Beaver
  • Foster City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster City
    • Foster City is located in Dickinson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foster City <3>
  • Perkins
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Flat Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
      • Flat Rock is located in Delta County
    • Brampton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Eustis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eustis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eustis
      • Eustis is located in Menominee 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 21 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 28 miles [45.1 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 first visit 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:

The official website for Marquette County: www.co.marquette.mi.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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: 46.0193, Longitude: -87.4147    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025