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 1: Lewiston Area Historical Society 4384 Michelson Avenue, Lewiston, MI 49756
Contact the society with a person, business or subject before visiting 4384 Michelson Avenue. Summer Saturday openings and group appointments are advertised; confirm the current season.
Stop 2: Montmorency County Register of Deeds 12265 M-32, Atlanta, MI 49709
Contact the Register of Deeds at the Atlanta county building with owner names, township/range/section or a known deed reference. Confirm search and copy charges and access to older books.
Stop 4: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Special Collections 211 North First Avenue, Alpena, MI 49707 Not plotted.
Ask Special Collections for Michigan Vertical File, box 3, and the named folder. The finding aid says open for research; material is held in Alpena, with department hours distinct from general library hours.
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 1, 2026.
Collection and access sources reviewed 2026-11-02. These are selected research routes, not complete county holdings or completed name-level searches.
RESEARCH STOP 01
Lewiston lumbering, railway and village history
Collection details
The museum’s collections and displays cover logging, milling, the Twin Lakes railway branch and Lewiston’s transition toward tourism. The former Kneeland and Sachs home provides local context.
What to confirm
No item-level archival inventory or employee roster was verified. Ask which original photographs or documents can be researched; an exhibit is not proof that personnel files survive. The museum coordinator reported on November 2, 2026 that photograph digitization had only just begun and resources were limited. Do not assume the photo collection is searchable or available online.
RESEARCH STOP 02
Find property by legal description, not only a surname
Collection details
The office maintains grantor/grantee indexes and a tract index for locating recorded instruments by legal land description, including surface and mineral interests.
What to confirm
No digitized start date or complete historical coverage is promised on the office page. Current parcel information alone does not establish past ownership.
RESEARCH STOP 03
Tax rolls, probate journals and rural property inventories
Collection details
Cataloged series include tax rolls, 1883–1999 (RG 2021-105); probate journals, 1883–1918 and 1943–1965 (RG 2019-65); and Rural Property Inventory, 1936–1942 (RG 72-76).
What to confirm
The probate-journal gap must remain visible. These are broad catalog spans, not assurances of an entry for every person or year.
RESEARCH STOP 04
Montmorency subject folders in a neighboring library
Collection details
A previously published Michigan Vertical File finding aid identifies Montmorency material in box 3: Atlanta Hotel fire, Hillman, maps, service and officer directories, and newspaper articles.
What to confirm
The old PDF now returns 404 and the linked catalog was inaccessible during this check. Confirm present holdings and access with staff. The former collection-wide 1970–2010 label is not a Montmorency date range.
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 Montmorency 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
Collection inventory or finding aid
Tax rolls, RG 2021-105
Listed years: 1883–1999.
Source, access and coverage limits
Request the record group, township and record type from Archives of Michigan in Lansing before travel or a copy order.
Keep in mind: Series spans; verify particular township, volume and gaps with the archives.
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.