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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 Laporte (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 Laporte. 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 and doctors 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.

Laporte is located in Lorain County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lorain County: Ashland, Cuyahoga, Erie, Huron & Medina.

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

  • Lorain County     (The home county of Laporte)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Elyria
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Eaton Estates
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Eaton Estates is located in Lorain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton Estates
    • Fields
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Fields is located in Lorain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields
    • Grafton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • North Ridgeville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sheffield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lagrange
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Nickelplate ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Nickelplate is located in Lorain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nickelplate
    • Belden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Belden is located in Lorain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belden
    • Oberlin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Avon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Avon is located in Lorain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,745 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
    • Amherst
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Ashland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Nova
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Albion
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Albion is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Ruggles
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ruggles is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruggles
    • Polk
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Polk is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
    • Savannah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Redhaw
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Redhaw is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redhaw
    • Bailey Lakes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Bailey Lakes is located in Ashland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
  • Champaign County
    • Rochester
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Rochester is located in Champaign County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
  • Cuyahoga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Olmsted Falls
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • North Olmsted
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Berea
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Berea is located in Cuyahoga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,508 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berea <1>
    • Binola
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Binola is located in Cuyahoga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binola
    • Strongsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • North Dover
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • North Dover is located in Cuyahoga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dover
    • Westlake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bay Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairview Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Brook Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Middleburg Heights
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bennetts Corners
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Bennetts Corners is located in Cuyahoga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennetts Corners
  • Erie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Birmingham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Florence
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Florence is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Berlin Heights
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Berlinville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Berlinville is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlinville
    • Shinrock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Shinrock is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinrock
    • Huron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Milan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • North Milan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • North Milan is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Milan
    • Avery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Avery is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
    • Bogart
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Bogart is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogart
    • Fairview Lanes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Fairview Lanes is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Lanes
  • Huron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • White Fox
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • White Fox is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Fox
    • Wakeman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • West Clarksfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • West Clarksfield is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Clarksfield
    • Collins
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Collins is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
    • East Townsend
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • East Townsend is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Townsend
    • Hartland Station
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Hartland Station is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland Station
    • Hartland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Hartland is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
    • New London
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Fitchville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fitchville is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchville
    • Olena
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Olena is located in Huron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olena
    • Norwalk
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Greenwich
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Medina County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Valley City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Litchfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Valley City Station
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Valley City Station is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City Station
    • Risley ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Risley is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risley
    • Abbeyville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Abbeyville is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
    • Brunswick
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • River Corners
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • River Corners is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Corners
    • Spencer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Medina
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hinckley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Pawnee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Pawnee is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
    • Briarwood Beach ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Briarwood Beach is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Beach
  • Summit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Richfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Bath
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Bath Center
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bath Center is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Center
    • Pigeon Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pigeon Creek is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Creek
    • Montrose
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Montrose is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
    • Paxton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Paxton is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paxton
    • Boston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Boston is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
      • Boston has also been known as:
      • Boston Mill
      • Helltown
    • Northfield Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Northfield Center is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfield Center
    • Copley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairlawn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Emmons Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Emmons Corner is located in Summit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmons Corner
    • Northfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laporte, with the one closest to Laporte listed first.
    • Burbank
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • West Salem
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Aukerman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Aukerman is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aukerman
    • Creston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Congress
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Congress is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congress
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
    • Sterling
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rittman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Laporte ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laporte.

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 Laporte - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • La Porte Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Butternut Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Sugar Ridge Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • South Murray Ridge Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Brookdale Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookdale Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Brookdale Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Elyria.
    • The Brookdale Cemetery has also been known as:
    • City of Elyria Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #159189 <2>
  • Ridgelawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • North Ridgeville Center Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Ridgeview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • North Murray Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • North Street Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fields Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (346 more) ...
    • St. Peters Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Mary Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Laporte had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Elyria
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Grafton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Fields
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fields is located in Lorain County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields
  • Shawville ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Shawville is located in Lorain County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawville
  • North Eaton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • North Eaton is located in Lorain County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Eaton
  • North Ridgeville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Nickelplate ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Nickelplate is located in Lorain County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nickelplate
  • Lagrange
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Columbia Station
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Sheffield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Oberlin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Belden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Belden is located in Lorain County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belden
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Olmsted Falls
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bement
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Bement is located in Cuyahoga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bement
    • Avon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Avon is located in Lorain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,745 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Laporte ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laporte.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laporte, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Laporte.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Laporte:

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 Laporte, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Laporte) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.