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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 West Branch (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 West Branch. 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 West Branch ...

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 West Branch: W. Branch

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 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 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.

West Branch is located in Ogemaw County and is the County Seat.

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 Ogemaw County: Alcona, Arenac, Crawford, Gladwin, Iosco, Oscoda & Roscommon.

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

  • Ogemaw County     (The home county of West Branch)
  • Alcona County
  • Arenac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
    • Melita
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Melita. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
      • Melita is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Melita
      • From West Branch to Melita
    • Maple Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sterling
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sterling have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
      • Sterling is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 498 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sterling <3>
    • Turner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • 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 Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Omer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Omer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omer
      • Omer is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
    • Standish
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standish have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
      • Standish is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,388 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Standish <3>
    • Twining
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twining have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twining
      • Twining is located in Arenac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Arenac
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arenac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arenac
      • Arenac is located in Arenac County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arenac
      • From West Branch to Arenac
    • Pine River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Saganing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Whites Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Bay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
    • Bentley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bentley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
      • Bentley is located in Bay County
    • Mount Forest
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Nine Mile
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Woodville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woodville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
      • Woodville is located in Bay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Woodville
      • From West Branch to Woodville
  • Clare County
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
    • Deerheart Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pere Cheney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
      • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
      • Pere Cheney has also been known as:
      • Center Plains
      • Cheney
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pere Cheney
      • From West Branch to Pere Cheney
    • Skyline Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyline Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Village
      • Skyline Village is located in Crawford County
  • Gladwin County
  • Iosco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
    • Long Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Whittemore
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whittemore have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittemore
      • Whittemore is located in Iosco County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whittemore <3>
    • Hale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • National City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for National City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National City
      • National City is located in Iosco County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for National City <3>
    • White Rock ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Oscoda County
  • Roscommon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Branch, with the one closest to West Branch listed first.
    • Saint Helen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Geels
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Geels. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geels
      • Geels is located in Roscommon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Geels
      • From West Branch to Geels
    • Prudenville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prudenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudenville
      • Prudenville is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prudenville <3>
    • Roscommon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roscommon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscommon
      • Roscommon is located in Roscommon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscommon <3>
    • Houghton Lake Heights
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake Heights
      • Houghton Lake Heights is located in Roscommon County
    • Houghton Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton Lake
      • Houghton Lake is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Houghton Lake <3>
    • Nellsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Hillcrest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Higgins Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Higgins Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins Lake
      • Higgins Lake is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Higgins Lake <3>

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

Cemeteries Near West Branch ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Branch.

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

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

  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brookside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brookside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brookside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ogemaw Springs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ogemaw Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ogemaw Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Campbells Corners Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campbells Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campbells Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edwards Twp. Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Beaver Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaver Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaver Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bourret Twp. Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Selkirk Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Mills Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mills Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mills Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Rose City Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (88 more) ...
    • Rose Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lakeview Park Indian Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Park Indian Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Park Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Alger Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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 West Branch had a population of 1,302 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, West Branch had a population of 2,046 people.

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

  • Ogemaw Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Campbells Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Greenwood is located in Ogemaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Greenwood
    • From West Branch to Greenwood
  • Selkirk
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selkirk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk
    • Selkirk is located in Ogemaw County
  • Saint Helen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Alger
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • Alger is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alger <3>
  • Damon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Butman
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butman
    • Butman is located in Gladwin County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Butman
    • From West Branch to Butman
  • Melita
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Melita. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
    • Melita is located in Arenac County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Melita
    • From West Branch to Melita
  • Prescott
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Maple Ridge
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • McClure
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McClure have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClure
    • McClure is located in Gladwin County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of West Branch ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Branch.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of West Branch. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of West Branch and those printed in the larger area surrounding West Branch.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6> of West Branch.

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 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 West Branch:

The official website for West Branch: www.westbranch.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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 West Branch, 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' (or 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- West Branch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Branch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2763, Longitude: -84.2386    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025