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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 Watton (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 Watton. 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 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.

Watton is located in Baraga 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 Baraga County: Houghton, Iron & Marquette.

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

  • Baraga County     (The home county of Watton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watton, with the one closest to Watton listed first.
    • Covington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
      • Covington is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Covington <2>
    • Alberta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
      • Alberta is located in Baraga County
    • Nestoria
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nestoria
      • Nestoria is located in Baraga County
    • L'Anse
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for L'Anse. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for L'Anse
      • L'Anse is located in Baraga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,825 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for L'Anse <2>
    • Baraga
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bear Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Town
      • Bear Town is located in Baraga County
    • Pelkie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pelkie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelkie
      • Pelkie is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelkie <2>
    • Keweenaw Bay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keweenaw Bay
      • Keweenaw Bay is located in Baraga County
    • Pequaming
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequaming
      • Pequaming is located in Baraga County
    • Skanee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skanee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skanee
      • Skanee is located in Baraga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skanee <2>
  • Gogebic County
    • Fuller
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fuller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
      • Fuller is located in Gogebic County
  • Houghton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watton, with the one closest to Watton listed first.
    • Sidnaw
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kenton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenton
      • Kenton is located in Houghton County
    • Hazel
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hazel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel
      • Hazel is located in Houghton County
    • Nisula
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisula
      • Nisula is located in Houghton County
    • Elo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elo
      • Elo is located in Houghton County
    • Lake Roland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Roland
      • Lake Roland is located in Houghton County
  • Iron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watton, with the one closest to Watton listed first.
    • Atkinson ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atkinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
      • Atkinson is located in Iron County
    • Gibbs City ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbs City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbs City
      • Gibbs City is located in Iron County
    • Amasa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Mineral Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Hills
      • Mineral Hills is located in Iron County
    • Chicagon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chicagon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicagon
      • Chicagon is located in Iron County
    • Iron River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron River
      • Iron River is located in Iron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,827 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iron River <2>
  • Marquette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watton, with the one closest to Watton listed first.
    • Michigamme
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigamme have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigamme
      • Michigamme is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Michigamme <2>
    • Beacon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon
      • Beacon is located in Marquette County
    • Champion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Ontonagon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watton, with the one closest to Watton listed first.
    • Trout Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Rousseau
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rousseau
      • Rousseau is located in Ontonagon County
    • Agate
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agate
      • Agate is located in Ontonagon County
    • Wasas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wasas. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasas
      • Wasas is located in Ontonagon County
    • Wainola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wainola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wainola
      • Wainola is located in Ontonagon County
    • Paynesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
      • Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County
    • Gem
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
      • Gem is located in Ontonagon County
    • Mass City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mass City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mass City
      • Mass City is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mass City <2>
    • Bruce Crossing
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Greenland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Paulding
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Rockland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Rockland is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockland <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Watton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watton.

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

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

  • Covington Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Covington Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sidnaw Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sidnaw Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sidnaw Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kitchie Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kitchie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kitchie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kitchie Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kitchie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kitchie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kenton Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kenton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kenton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Herman Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Herman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Herman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alston Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • L'Anse Twp. Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the L'Anse Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the L'Anse Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pelkie Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pelkie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pelkie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Henrys Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <4>
  • Trout Creek Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Baraga Village Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baraga Village Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Baraga Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pinery Indian Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinery Indian Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinery Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Assinins Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Assinins Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Assinins 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>

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

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

  • Sidnaw
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Vermilac
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vermilac have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilac
    • Vermilac is located in Baraga County
  • Kenton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenton
    • Kenton is located in Houghton County
  • Nestoria
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nestoria
    • Nestoria is located in Baraga County
  • L'Anse
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for L'Anse. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for L'Anse
    • L'Anse is located in Baraga County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,825 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for L'Anse <2>
  • Baraga
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Trout Creek
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Pori
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pori have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pori
    • Pori is located in Houghton County
  • Atkinson ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atkinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
    • Atkinson is located in Iron County
  • Amasa
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Michigamme
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigamme have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigamme
    • Michigamme is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Michigamme <2>
  • Pequaming
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequaming
    • Pequaming is located in Baraga County
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Paynesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
      • Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County
    • Tamarack
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tamarack have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamarack
      • Tamarack is located in Gogebic County
      • Tamarack has also been known as:
      • Tamarack Lake
    • Elmwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood
      • Elmwood is located in Iron County

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

Newspapers Published in Watton ...

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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watton, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watton.

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 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 Watton:

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

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 Watton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Watton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Watton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.5374, Longitude: -88.6065       In this case, the coordinates for Watton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025