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, Stop 2: Sandusky District Library 55 E Sanilac Road, Sandusky, MI 48471
The society directs users to the Documents folder in the library's Genealogy collection. Ask Sandusky District Library at 810-648-2644 for help locating the transcription if its embedded viewer is difficult to navigate.
Stop 1, Stop 2: Sanilac County Genealogical Society See access instructions Not plotted.
The society directs users to the Documents folder in the library's Genealogy collection. Ask Sandusky District Library at 810-648-2644 for help locating the transcription if its embedded viewer is difficult to navigate.
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 October 31, 2026. These are selected research routes, not complete county holdings or completed name-level searches.
RESEARCH STOP 01
Rural schoolhouses, pupils and teachers
Collection details
The societies' rural-schools project documented 200 former schoolhouse locations and assembled photographs of buildings, teachers and pupils, plus memorabilia such as report cards, student lists and school-board records. It was completed in 2019; that is the project date, not the date span of every school record.
What to confirm
Coverage varies by school. This is a collected local-history project, not a complete county enrollment register. Identify the township and school before drawing conclusions from missing names.
RESEARCH STOP 02
Early land-purchase register across changing jurisdictions
Collection details
The society describes a transcription of the Sanilac land-purchase register for 1833-1849, including portions of present Huron County. The register belonged to Hiram Bacon and began during the region's association with Desmond, then Lexington Township, in St. Clair County.
What to confirm
The register's original purpose and initiator remain uncertain. Compare entries with federal General Land Office records. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and verify the original land description before linking a purchaser to a later household.
RESEARCH STOP 03
Croswell newspaper indexes and searchable Depot Museum scrapbooks
Collection details
Sanilac Jeffersonian birth, marriage and death indexes are divided into 1876–1920, 1921–1950, 1951–1970 and 1971–1990. The library also provides digitized Croswell Depot Museum scrapbooks and cemetery data.
What to confirm
Indexes are finding aids rather than civil certificates. The library states the original Depot Museum scrapbooks are not accessible; use the digital copies.
RESEARCH STOP 04
Port Sanilac lighthouse journals and church records
Collection details
The digital archive lists lighthouse journals from October 13, 1886 through June 30, 1918, alongside St. John Lutheran birth, baptism, marriage and death certificates and local cemetery resources.
What to confirm
Lighthouse journals are operational records, not passenger lists. No overall church-record date range is supplied on the overview.
RESEARCH STOP 05
Carsonville-Port Sanilac yearbooks with an explicit missing-year list
Collection details
The library lists CPS yearbooks for 1960 and 1965–2019, excluding 2008.
What to confirm
The listed gaps include 1961–1964 and 2008; the page also seeks 1959 and earlier volumes. Do not present these holdings as an uninterrupted 1960–2019 run.
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 Sanilac 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.
Download the indexes, then use the linked digital archives or microfilm to inspect the notice. Search the scrapbook images and text online.
Keep in mind: Indexes are finding aids rather than civil certificates. The library states the original Depot Museum scrapbooks are not accessible; use the digital copies.
Use the library’s digital archives to browse the school and year, then inspect the original page around a name.
Keep in mind: The listed gaps include 1961–1964 and 2008; the page also seeks 1959 and earlier volumes. Do not present these holdings as an uninterrupted 1960–2019 run.
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.