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The Commemorative Quarter for Michigan





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 Zeeland (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 Zeeland. 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.

Zeeland 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 Zeeland. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Zeeland:

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

Cemeteries Near Zeeland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Zeeland.

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

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

  • Zeeland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • New Groningen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Groningen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Groningen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Roselawn Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roselawn Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roselawn Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Drenthe Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Noordeloos Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Holland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Holland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Vriesland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Vriesland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Vriesland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vriesland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Borculo Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pilgrim Home Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Van Dam Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Van Dam Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Van Dam Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Drenthe Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Drenthe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Drenthe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (230 more) ...
    • Beaverdam Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaverdam Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaverdam Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • North Holland Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old Overisel Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Overisel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Overisel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Zeeland had a population of 785 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Zeeland had a population of 5,522 people.

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

  • Noordeloos
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Vriesland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vriesland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vriesland
    • Vriesland is located in Ottawa County
  • Beaverdam
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaverdam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdam
    • Beaverdam is located in Ottawa County
  • Holland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Drenthe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Drenthe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenthe
    • Drenthe is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Drenthe
    • From Zeeland to Drenthe
  • New Holland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
    • New Holland is located in Ottawa County
  • Overisel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Overisel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overisel
    • Overisel is located in Allegan County
  • Borculo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borculo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borculo
    • Borculo is located in Ottawa County
  • Fillmore
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Graafschap
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
    • Oakland is located in Allegan County
  • Olive Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Center
    • Olive Center is located in Ottawa County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Zeeland ...

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 173 newspapers that have been published in the area around Zeeland.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Zeeland. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Zeeland and those printed in the larger area surrounding Zeeland.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6> of Zeeland.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Zeeland:

The official website for Zeeland: www.ci.zeeland.mi.us/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Zeeland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Zeeland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Zeeland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8123, Longitude: -86.0190    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025