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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 Olive (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 Olive. 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 Olive ...

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 Olive: W. Olive

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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 Olive is located in Ottawa 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 Ottawa County: Allegan, Kent & Muskegon.

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

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

Cemeteries Near West Olive ...

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

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

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

  • West Olive Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olive Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cobmosay Grave
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cobmosay Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cobmosay Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ventura Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ventura Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ventura Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grand Haven Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Haven Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Haven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Ridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lake Shore Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Shore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Shore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Noordeloos Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Noordeloos Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Noordeloos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Borculo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Borculo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Borculo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rusk Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rusk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rusk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakewood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (182 more) ...
    • North Holland Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Holland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Robinson Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robinson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robinson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lake Forest Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Forest Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Forest 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Olive had a population of 78 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Agnew
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Olive Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Center
    • Olive Center is located in Ottawa County
  • Robinson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Robinson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Robinson is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Robinson
    • From West Olive to Robinson
  • New Holland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
    • New Holland is located in Ottawa County
  • Noordeloos
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Borculo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borculo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borculo
    • Borculo is located in Ottawa County
  • Spring Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Spring Lake is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,504 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Lake <3>
  • Holland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Zeeland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Beaverdam
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaverdam have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdam
    • Beaverdam is located in Ottawa County
  • Grand Haven
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Allendale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ferrysburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferrysburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrysburg
      • Ferrysburg is located in Ottawa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,022 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferrysburg <3>
    • South Blendon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Pearline
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearline have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearline
      • Pearline is located in Ottawa County

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

Newspapers Published in West Olive ...

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 146 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Olive.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Olive, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Olive.

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 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 West Olive:

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

The official website for Ottawa County: www.co.ottawa.mi.us/

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>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 Olive, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Olive) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Olive. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9286, Longitude: -86.1473       In this case, the coordinates for West Olive have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025