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Surrounding Counties
Manistee County
Mason County
Mecosta County
Newaygo County
Oceana County
Osceola County
Wexford County

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Michigan Archives

Lake County, originally named Aishum after a well known Potawatomi Indian Chief was set off in 1840 and attached to Oceana County. In 1843 it was renamed to Lake for the numerous lakes in the county. For the next 30 years , it was attached to neighboring counties until organization in 1871. Chase, first settled in 1867, was the first county seat. Baldwin became the county seat  in 1875.  Baldwin was settled in 1872 and is named after Henry P. Baldwin, Governor of Michigan 1868-1872.

White pine forests covered Lake County in the 1870’s and helped make Michigan a leading lumbering state. Today the Manistee National Forest and the Pere Marquette State Forest covers much of Lake County.

In 2000 Lake County had a population of  11,333 and Baldwin, the largest village in Lake County, had a population of 1,107.

Progress in Lake County  Biographical sketches of people from a 1879 Lake County Star article. Contains information on when and where they settled in Lake County, farm description including size, buildings, soil, and buildings. Contributed by Chi Benedict.

Obituaries  A link to Chi Benedict's webpage of Lake County newspaper obituaries, wedding announcements, and other Lake County newspaper items. Some names mentioned are BRADFORD, CASHION, DRILLING, POTTER, ROUSE, and THIEMAN.

County Plat Maps  A 1930's farm ownership plat map of Lake County. Maps of each of the 16 townships show the land owner's name, location, shape, and acreage of the property.

Baldwin Schools  Alumni lists, old school photos from 1920’s to present.

Big Star Lake Photographs  Collection of photographs of  c.1920-1940 and photographs. ALDERSON, BAILEY,  and BARNUM. Contributed by Christy Barnum.

Postcards from Lake County  Collection of postcards c.1910 and photographs. ADAMS, BLASS, CAPLAN, ROSE, UPDEGRAFF, VANDENBERG, and WILKINSON. Contributed by Jim Blass. 

Cemetery Transcriptions  Cemetery transcripts of Lake County of Pleasant Plains Township and Webber Township. Includes AVERY, BRADFORD, DRILLING, GIBSON, KAMINSKI, ROUSE, and THIEMAN families  Contributed by Chi Benedict.

Blass Company  The Blass Company general merchandise store account book index 1908-1910 contributed by Jim Blass

Lake County Families  Links to web pages of Lake County researchers.

Query Archive  Queries from 1996-1999

1895 Map  A old map of Lake County showing villages, railroads,  and population. Many villages today are ghost towns.

Historic Places  Places in Lake County on the National Register of Historic Places.

GENDIS  Genealogical Death Indexing System (GENDIS) provided by the Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics of the Michigan Department of Community Health.  Contains information on 150,000 Michigan death records from 1867-1882.

SSDI for Lake County  Ancestry’s Social Security Death Index for Lake County.

Just Beginning Your Family Tree??  Handy links to other genealogy resources, methods, and sources.

1880 Census 1880 U.S. Census extract now available on on-line at FamilySearch.org!