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 Orchard Beach (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 Orchard Beach. 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 Orchard Beach ...
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 Orchard Beach: Orchard Bch.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Orchard Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orchard Beach.
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 hospitals and doctors 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.
Orchard Beach is located in Erie 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 Erie County: Huron, Lorain, Ottawa & Sandusky.
Below are the counties that are near Orchard Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orchard Beach:
- Erie County (The home county of Orchard Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Florence
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Florence is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Birmingham
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Berlin Heights
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Shinrock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Shinrock is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinrock
- Huron
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Berlinville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Berlinville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlinville
- North Milan
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- North Milan is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Milan
- Avery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Avery is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Milan
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bogart
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Bogart is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogart
- Fairview Lanes
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Fairview Lanes is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Lanes
- Sandusky
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Venice
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Venice is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice
- Ashland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Nova
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Ruggles
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Ruggles is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruggles
- Savannah
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Champaign County
- Rochester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Rochester is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Cuyahoga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Bay Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- North Dover
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- North Dover is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dover
- North Olmsted
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Olmsted Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Westlake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Berea
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fairview Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Rockport
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Rockport is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
- Rocky River
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Binola
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Binola is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binola
- Strongsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Huron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Wakeman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- East Townsend
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- East Townsend is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Townsend
- Collins
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Collins is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Hartland Station
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Hartland Station is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland Station
- West Clarksfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- West Clarksfield is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Clarksfield
- White Fox
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- White Fox is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Fox
- Norwalk
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hartland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Hartland is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- Olena
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Olena is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olena
- Monroeville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Peru
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Peru is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Fitchville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Fitchville is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchville
- Hunts Corners
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hunts Corners is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Corners
- Hunts Corners has also been known as:
- Moorehead
- Lorain County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Vermilion
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Vermilion-on-the-Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Brownhelm Station
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Brownhelm Station is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownhelm Station
- Henrietta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Henrietta is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
- Amherst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- South Amherst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- South Amherst is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Amherst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
- Kipton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Kipton is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kipton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Lorain
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Oberlin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Elyria
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Nickelplate ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Nickelplate is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nickelplate
- Sheffield Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Brighton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Brighton is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
- Medina County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Litchfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Spencer
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Risley ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Risley is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risley
- River Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- River Corners is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Corners
- Valley City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Valley City Station
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Valley City Station is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City Station
- Homer
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Homer is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
- Pawnee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pawnee is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
- Abbeyville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Abbeyville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbeyville
- Ottawa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Marblehead
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Danbury
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Danbury is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danbury
- Violet ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Violet is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Violet
- Gypsum
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Catawba Island
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Catawba Island is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba Island
- Put-in-Bay
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Port Clinton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Isle Saint George
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Isle Saint George is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle Saint George
- Sandusky County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Teemes ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Teemes is located in Sandusky County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teemes
- Bellevue
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Vickery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Vickery is located in Sandusky County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vickery
- Clyde
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Seneca County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Flat Rock
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Flat Rock is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Omar
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Omar is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omar
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orchard Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Orchard Beach.
Cemeteries Near Orchard Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orchard Beach.
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 Orchard Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orchard Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Cuddleback Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Peakes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rugby Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Florence Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Harrison Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Brownhelm Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Berlin Heights Baptist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cable Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Birmingham Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gore Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Henrietta Methodist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (258 more) ...
- McMillan Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- West End Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Riverside Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
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 Orchard Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orchard Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Ashmont ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ashmont is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashmont
- Vermilion
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Axtel
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Axtel is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axtel
- Ceylon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ceylon is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
- Ogontz
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ogontz is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogontz
- Florence
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Florence is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Birmingham
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Brownhelm Station
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Brownhelm Station is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownhelm Station
- Brownhelm
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Brownhelm is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownhelm
- Shinrock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Shinrock is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinrock
- Berlin Heights
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Henrietta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Henrietta is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Huron
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Berlinville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Berlinville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlinville
- Amherst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orchard Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orchard Beach.
Newspapers Published in Orchard Beach ...
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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orchard Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orchard Beach, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orchard Beach.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Orchard Beach:
- Websites specific to Ohio
- Pages specific to Erie County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Ashland County
- Champaign County
- Cuyahoga County
- Huron County
- Lorain County
- Medina County
- Ottawa County
- Sandusky County
- Seneca County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Ohio
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 Orchard Beach, 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- Orchard Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |