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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 Tappan (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 Tappan. 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 Tappan ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Tappan: W. Tappan

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 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.

West Tappan is located in Saint Clair County.

To see how the shape of Michigan's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Saint Clair County: Lapeer, Macomb & Sanilac.

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

  • Saint Clair County     (The home county of West Tappan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Tappan, with the one closest to West Tappan listed first.
    • Sparlingville
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Sparlingville is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparlingville
    • Wadhams
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Wadhams is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadhams
    • Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Port Huron
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Gardendale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Gardendale is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
    • Ruby
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ruby is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
    • Marysville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Smiths Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Atkins
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Atkins is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
    • North Street
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Goodells
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Goodells is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodells
    • Columbus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Lapeer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Tappan, with the one closest to West Tappan listed first.
    • Almont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Imlay City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Brown City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Dryden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Macomb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Tappan, with the one closest to West Tappan listed first.
    • Memphis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Memphis is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,170 people
      • Former name for Memphis:
      • Well's Settlement
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Memphis <1>
    • Bates Corner ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bates Corner is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates Corner
    • Beebe's Corners ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Beebe's Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe's Corners
    • Coopertown ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Coopertown is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopertown
    • Muttonville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Muttonville is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muttonville
    • Richmond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Doyle ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Doyle is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyle
    • Armada
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Armada is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,698 people
      • Former names for Armada:
      • Burk's Corners
      • Honeyoe
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Armada <1>
    • Berry's Corners ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Berry's Corners is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry's Corners
    • New Haven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • New Haven is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Haven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,061 people
      • Former names for New Haven:
      • New Baltimore Station
      • New Haven Station
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Haven <1>
    • Omo ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Omo is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omo
    • New Baltimore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • New Baltimore is located in Macomb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,281 people
      • Former names for New Baltimore:
      • Ashley
      • Ashleyville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Baltimore <1>
  • Sanilac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Tappan, with the one closest to West Tappan listed first.
    • Amadore ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Amadore is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amadore
    • Lexington Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Lexington Heights is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Heights
    • Roseburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Roseburg is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseburg
    • Lexington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Speaker
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Speaker is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speaker
    • Croswell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Melvin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Melvin is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
    • Peck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Peck is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peck
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 588 people
    • Valley Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Valley Center is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Center
    • Applegate
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Cash
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cash is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
    • Watertown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Watertown is located in Sanilac County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown

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

Cemeteries Near West Tappan ...

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

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for West Tappan - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Tappan covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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.<3>

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

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

  • Kimball
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Wadhams
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Wadhams is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadhams
  • Thornton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Thornton is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
  • Smiths Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Marysville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Port Huron
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ruby
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruby is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
  • Abbotsford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Abbotsford is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbotsford
  • Atkins
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Atkins is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
  • North Street
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Goodells
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Goodells is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodells
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Rattle Run
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Rattle Run is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rattle Run
    • Lambs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lambs is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs
      • Lambs has also been known as:
      • Lamb
    • Columbus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in West Tappan ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Tappan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Tappan, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Tappan.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Tappan:

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 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.
<3>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 Tappan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Tappan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.