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 2, Stop 4: Lake County Historical Museum and research library 915 N Michigan Avenue, Baldwin, MI 49304
Museum complex; library addition reported at 911. Confirm entrance and appointment. Do not use Chamber template address 895.
Stop 1: Archives of Michigan See collection access instructions Not plotted.
Send the Archives the township, series title, year and RG 2021-86. Ask about name indexes, copy options and the current location before travelling. The county guide is an inventory rather than a digitized record viewer.
Stop 3: University of Chicago Library, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center See collection access instructions Not plotted.
Read the reproduced pages in the online exhibit. For additional material or reproduction requests, contact the library's Special Collections center using the collection name and cited box and folder; check its visitor requirements before planning a Chicago trip.
Stop 6: Chicago Public Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection See collection access instructions Not plotted.
Contact the Harsh Research Collection with the collection title and Idlewild association question, and request an appointment before travelling to Woodson Regional Library, 9525 S. Halsted Street, Chicago. Ask about remote reference and reproduction options first.
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 November 1, 2026. These are selected research routes, not complete county holdings or completed name-level searches.
RESEARCH STOP 01
Elk Township school census, voters and township tax rolls
Collection details
RG 2021-86 lists Elk Township school census records for 1922–1927, tax assessment rolls for 1889–1939, elector registers for 1882–1946 and school elector records for 1940–1949. The same record group includes Sauble Township assessment rolls for 1914–1932. These are township-specific routes, not countywide series.
What to confirm
The school census and school-elector register are different records: electors are voters, not a pupil roster. The guide gives series ranges, not uninterrupted annual survival. Ask about the actual year and township.
RESEARCH STOP 02
Locate a one-room school before searching its pupils
Collection details
The society's 2021 announcement describes One-Room Schools of Lake County: A History and Self-Driving Guide, covering 63 school locations and incorporating photographs, teacher contracts and report cards. It offers a route from a family's locality to a named school.
What to confirm
This is a compiled publication. It does not establish that the museum holds a complete original attendance register for each school. Publication availability and research arrangements need current confirmation.
RESEARCH STOP 03
Idlewild letters preserved outside Michigan
Collection details
The library's online exhibit reproduces Julian Lewis's 1922 Idlewild letter to Eva and Eva's 1934 letter to Julian. It identifies the Eva Overton and Julian Herman Lewis Collection, box 6 folder 1 and box 7 folder 29. These provide first-person resort and community context.
What to confirm
These are one family's letters, not an Idlewild guest register or proof that an unrelated family visited. The two letter dates should not be presented as continuous county coverage.
RESEARCH STOP 04
A newer research library for township and school leads
Collection details
An October 2024 report documents the museum moving into an expanded research library, with Lake County Star issues, school and township records, maps and obituaries.
What to confirm
This dated report does not identify series or surviving years. Confirm the exact holdings and current access.
RESEARCH STOP 05
Chase and Pinora history gathered locally
Collection details
Chase Township confirms that the library holds a local-history collection compiled by its historical society and serves Chase and Pinora townships. This is a useful local inquiry point for a school, church, business or family tied to those townships.
What to confirm
The township page does not supply an item-level catalog or dates. Ask which compiled files or original documents match the question rather than assuming complete township records survive.
RESEARCH STOP 06
Idlewild lot owners through a Chicago family’s papers
Collection details
The Jeanne Boger Jones Papers include records of the Chicago chapter of the Idlewild Lot Owners Association, alongside correspondence, photographs and family-history material. This offers a route to the resort community’s connections outside Michigan.
What to confirm
The collection’s overall 1845–2000 span is not the date range of the Idlewild files. The description does not promise a complete list of lot owners, residents or visitors. Ask for the relevant folders and dates.
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 Lake 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
Archival records; finding aid online
Elk Township school census
Listed years: 1922–1927.
Source, access and coverage limits
Send the Archives the township, series title, year and RG 2021-86. Ask about name indexes, copy options and the current location before travelling. The county guide is an inventory rather than a digitized record viewer.
Keep in mind: The school census and school-elector register are different records: electors are voters, not a pupil roster. The guide gives series ranges, not uninterrupted annual survival. Ask about the actual year and township.
Send the Archives the township, series title, year and RG 2021-86. Ask about name indexes, copy options and the current location before travelling. The county guide is an inventory rather than a digitized record viewer.
Keep in mind: The school census and school-elector register are different records: electors are voters, not a pupil roster. The guide gives series ranges, not uninterrupted annual survival. Ask about the actual year and township.
Send the Archives the township, series title, year and RG 2021-86. Ask about name indexes, copy options and the current location before travelling. The county guide is an inventory rather than a digitized record viewer.
Keep in mind: The school census and school-elector register are different records: electors are voters, not a pupil roster. The guide gives series ranges, not uninterrupted annual survival. Ask about the actual year and township.
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.