Selected repository locations for present-day orientation. Numbers match the research stops below. Select a marker to open its stop. Locations are approximate, not entrances or driving directions. Grouped numbers identify nearby repositories; use the address key for individual locations.
Several stops can lead to the same repository. Maps show selected verified locations, not every guide stop or every community represented in the records. Use each stop’s access instructions, including for online and out-of-county collections. Check access before traveling.
Stop 6: Cass District Library, Edwardsburg Branch 26964 Main Street, Edwardsburg, MI 49112
Use the Edwardsburg Branch at 26964 Main Street, Edwardsburg, telephone 269-487-9215. Ask staff to confirm the year before visiting; these volumes are not at the Local History Branch.
Stop 1, Stop 2, Stop 3, Stop 4, Stop 5: Cass District Library, Local History Branch 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis, MI 49031
For Local History Branch materials, contact staff before visiting 145 N. Broadway in Cassopolis. Edwardsburg school yearbooks are held separately at the Edwardsburg Branch; confirm the relevant location and year.
County outlines: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 cartographic boundaries ↗. Selected major roads: 2024 TIGER/Line primary and secondary roads ↗. Public repository addresses checked against the sources above, with approximate Census geocoder positions. Unmatched addresses and out-of-county repositories are listed in the key rather than assigned a guessed position. Markers identify contact locations, not collection coverage. Historical boundaries, township lines and current traffic conditions are not shown. Prepared November 3, 2026.
Collection and access sources reviewed October 31, 2026. These are selected research routes, not complete county holdings or completed name-level searches.
RESEARCH STOP 01
Locate the rural school before looking for its students
Collection details
The rural-school guide organizes schools by township, district number, name and section. It specifically locates Jefferson Township District 4 (Davis School) records at the branch. It also points to a July 5, 1860 Cass County Republican report on Pokagon Township schools.
What to confirm
School names, sites and district numbers changed. A school-location entry is not a surviving attendance register; ask about the actual Davis School records and their dates.
RESEARCH STOP 02
Cassopolis graduating-class photographs with explicit gaps
Collection details
The class-photo inventory covers Cassopolis High School, later Ross Beatty High School, for 1932–1961. Missing years are 1938, 1940, 1946–1948 and 1950. The large mounted photographs came to the library in 2018.
What to confirm
Planner intervals exclude the six missing years. Presence in a group photograph requires documentary identification; do not assign an identity from appearance alone.
RESEARCH STOP 03
Divorce decrees and proceedings on local microfilm
Collection details
The film list identifies decree sequences spanning 1848–1931, proceedings for 1897–1930, and volumes I–L for 1910–1956. It supplies film numbers and decree-number ranges so a request can go beyond a surname.
What to confirm
The library warns that these films are unindexed and difficult to use. Overlapping series are not a single complete run; compare the exact film and volume description.
RESEARCH STOP 04
Connelly funeral records and newspaper obituary indexes
Collection details
The online guides page links Connelly Funeral Home records by year from 1917 through 1930. Separate local newspaper obituary indexes cover 1998–2012 and individual years through 2025.
What to confirm
An index is a pointer rather than the full source. Funeral-home coverage is not the same as all county deaths; confirm the identity and informant.
RESEARCH STOP 05
Landowners and neighborhood features in dated plat atlases
Collection details
The plat guide identifies atlases for 1860, 1872, 1896 and 1914. Maps show owners and acreage alongside schools, mills, churches and roads. The 1860 and 1872 reprints include indexes; the 1896 and 1914 reprints do not.
What to confirm
Edition dates are snapshots, not deed dates. Later holdings include uncertain handwritten dates and no 1940s plat books. The planner lists only four securely dated early editions.
RESEARCH STOP 06
Edwardsburg annuals with seven documented missing volumes
Collection details
The October 2022 inventory lists 67 Edwardsburg High School annuals from 1948 through 2021. It distinguishes physical copies from volumes available through Ancestry.
What to confirm
The inventory lacks 1962, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1985, 1986 and 1988. It described 2022 as unpublished, so that year is excluded pending confirmation. Ancestry access may require a subscription.
Prepare one focused request
Give the repository the locality, year, collection and specific question. Ask about the relevant volume or folder, gaps, access restrictions and copying costs. Save the citation and record what you searched, including searches with no result.
Use these dated holdings to choose a next search. This is a selection of cataloged collections, not a complete inventory of Cass County records.
A range is a lead, not a guarantee. Bars show the dates stated by the cited catalog or inventory. They do not establish uninterrupted coverage, complete reporting or online image access. Unmarked years mean not represented in this selection, not that records were destroyed. Indexes and abstracts still need to be followed to the underlying record.
Sources reviewed November 1, 2026. Blue shows cataloged holdings; rust identifies indexes or compiled publications where the source specifies them. Read the format label and access notes for each row.
180018501900195020002026
Explicit listed years / gaps preserved
Cassopolis graduating-class photographs with explicit gaps
Use the Local History Branch at 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis. Call 269-357-7823 before traveling, identify the item, and confirm current hours and copying options. Request the graduating year and ask whether a name key or reproduction is available.
Keep in mind: Planner intervals exclude the six missing years. Presence in a group photograph requires documentary identification; do not assign an identity from appearance alone.
Open the year link on the guides page, record the entry reference, then ask the branch for the underlying record or newspaper image. Use the Local History Branch at 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis. Call 269-357-7823 before traveling, identify the item, and confirm current hours and copying options.
Keep in mind: An index is a pointer rather than the full source. Funeral-home coverage is not the same as all county deaths; confirm the identity and informant.
Use the Local History Branch at 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis. Call 269-357-7823 before traveling, identify the item, and confirm current hours and copying options. Bring both parties’ names, approximate date and any case reference. Select the reel from the linked inventory.
Keep in mind: The library warns that these films are unindexed and difficult to use. Overlapping series are not a single complete run; compare the exact film and volume description.
Use the Local History Branch at 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis. Call 269-357-7823 before traveling, identify the item, and confirm current hours and copying options. Bring both parties’ names, approximate date and any case reference. Select the reel from the linked inventory.
Keep in mind: The library warns that these films are unindexed and difficult to use. Overlapping series are not a single complete run; compare the exact film and volume description.
Use the Local History Branch at 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis. Call 269-357-7823 before traveling, identify the item, and confirm current hours and copying options. Bring both parties’ names, approximate date and any case reference. Select the reel from the linked inventory.
Keep in mind: The library warns that these films are unindexed and difficult to use. Overlapping series are not a single complete run; compare the exact film and volume description.
Landowners and neighborhood features in dated plat atlases
Listed years: 1860, 1872, 1896, 1914.
Source, access and coverage limits
Request the edition and township at 145 N. Broadway, Cassopolis; contact jwuepper@cassdistrictlibrary.org or 269-357-7823.
Keep in mind: Edition dates are snapshots, not deed dates. Later holdings include uncertain handwritten dates and no 1940s plat books. The planner lists only four securely dated early editions.
Use the Edwardsburg Branch at 26964 Main Street, Edwardsburg, telephone 269-487-9215. Ask staff to confirm the year before visiting; these volumes are not at the Local History Branch.
Keep in mind: The inventory lacks 1962, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1985, 1986 and 1988. It described 2022 as unpublished, so that year is excluded pending confirmation. Ancestry access may require a subscription.
Confirm the historical jurisdiction as well as the date. A record may be held outside today’s county, and an inventory’s ending year does not mean recordkeeping stopped.
Suggest a correction, an overlooked collection or an updated access detail. An official link or source helps us check it before making a change. Please leave out private family documents and sensitive personal information.