Van Buren County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 75,587. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Paw Paw. The county was founded in 1829 and organized in 1837.

History

The county was named for

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

before he became president. He was

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

and later

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

; thus Van Buren is one of Michigan's " Cabinet counties". The Van Buren County Courthouse was built by

Claire Allen ] ] Claire Allen (July 29, 1853 – December 22, 1942) was an Americans, American architect prominent in southern Michigan in the early twentieth century, and best known for designing several county courthouses. He was considered a "master ...

, a prominent Southern Michigan architect; its cornerstone was laid on September 2, 1901, after a July vote to issue $35,000 in county bonds.

Government

Van Buren County has usually voted Republican in national elections. Since 1884, the county's voters have selected the Republican Party nominee in 79% (27 of 34) of the national elections through 2016. However, the county has become a swing county as well as a bellwether in recent years, voting for the overall winner in every presidential election from 1980 to 2016. It stayed with

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, a popular candidate in this county and other rural bellwethers, in the 2020 race. Van Buren County operates the County jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, records deeds, mortgages, and vital records, administers

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget and has limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions – police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance etc. – are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Elected officials

Prosecuting Attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

: Susan Zuiderveen (R) * Sheriff: Dan Abbott (R) * County Clerk: Suzie Roehm (R) * County Treasurer: Trisha Nesbitt (R) * Register of Deeds: Paul W. DeYoung (R) * Drain Commissioner: Joe Parman (R) *

County Surveyor A county surveyor is a public official in the United Kingdom and the United States. United Kingdom Webb & Webb describe the increasing chaos that began to prevail within this same period in field of county surveying in England and Wales, with c ...

: Charles Lossie (R)

Board of Commissioners

7 members, elected from districts (1 Democrat, 6 Republicans) (information correct in March 2021)

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (44%) is water. Much of the county is farmland dotted with small towns. Areas near Kalamazoo County, specifically Antwerp Township and Almena Township, are becoming suburbanized. Many of the inland lakes are ringed with homes, either by people living year-round or cottagers, generally people who live the rest of the time in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Tourism is a major industry in the areas near Lake Michigan.

Rivers

Paw Paw River The Paw Paw River is located in the U.S. state of Michigan in the southwest portion of the lower peninsula. It is formed by the confluence of the north and south branches at in Waverly Township in the northeast of Van Buren County. It flows ap ...

* Black River

Adjacent counties

* Allegan County - north * Kalamazoo County - east * St. Joseph County - southeast * Cass County - south * Berrien County - southwest *

Lake County, Illinois Lake County is situated in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 714,342, making it the third-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat ...

- west

Parks, preserves, natural areas

* Dunes Parkway, an 84-acre (340,000 m²) preserve of

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

in Covert Township * Hamilton Township Coastal Plain Marsh Nature Sanctuary, a 79-acre (320,000 m²) preserve of coastal plain

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

in Hamilton Township owned by the

Michigan Nature Association Michigan Nature Association is a nonprofit conservation organization established in 1952. It has 176 nature sanctuaries in 58 counties throughout Michigan under its jurisdiction. History In 1951, a bird study group in the Macomb County Mac ...

* Jeptha Lake Fen Preserve, a 49-acre (200,000 m²) preserve in Columbia Township * Kal-Haven Trail, a

multi-use trail A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

converted from old rail line that runs from

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...

to South Haven *

Keeler State Game Area Keeler may refer to: Places *2261 Keeler, asteroid *Keeler, California, USA *Keeler Township, Michigan, USA *Keeler, Saskatchewan, Canada *Keeler (lunar crater), on the moon *Keeler (Martian crater), crater on Mars *Cape Keeler, cape in Antarctica ...

, (1.6 km²) in Keeler Township * North Point Park - high dunes on on Lake Michigan, north of Van Buren State Park
Ross Preserve
a 1,449 acre (5.9 km²) preserve of coastal plain

in Covert Township owned by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

* Van Buren State Park * Van Buren Trail State Park is adjacent to Kal-Haven Trail

Transportation

Highways

* * * * * * * * * *

Public transportation

* Pere Marquette (Amtrak train) * Van Buren Public Transit

Railroads

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

* CSX Transportation *

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

, through Amtrak owned Michigan Line * West Michigan Railroad

Demographics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

indicates Van Buren County had a 2010 population of 76,258. This decrease of -5 people from the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

indicated a nearly-zero population change in the decade. In 2010 there were 28,928 households and 20,434 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 125.5 per square mile (48.5 square kilometers). There were 36,785 housing units at an average density of 60.6 per square mile (23.4 square kilometers). The racial and ethnic makeup of the county was 82.7% White, 3.9% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 10.2% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. There were 28,928 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were husband and wife families, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.4% were non-families, and 24.0% were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.07. The county population contained 25.5% under age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96 males. The 2010 American Community Survey 1-year estimate indicates the median income for a household in the county was $44,242 and the median income for a family was $53,642. Males had a median income of $28,079 versus $18,124 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $21,495. About 10.0% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 21.1% of those under the age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bangor * Gobles *

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

* South Haven (partial)

Villages

* Bloomingdale * Breedsville * Decatur *

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

* Lawton * Mattawan * Paw Paw (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Almena * Berlamont (originally Bear Lake Mills) * Columbia * Corwin * Covert * Crystal Beach * Fritzburg * Glendale (named Lemont during 1868) * Grand Junction * Keeler * Kibbie * Kendall * Lake-of-the-Woods * Lacota (originally West Geneva, then Irvington) * Maple Grove Corners * McDonald *

Mentha ''Mentha'' (also known as mint, from Greek , Linear B ''mi-ta'') is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae (mint family). The exact distinction between species is unclear; it is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist. Hybridization occurs nat ...

(ghost town) * North Lake * Pine Grove Mills * Roth Valley * Sister Lakes * Stoughton Corners * Tea Pot Dome * Toquin * West Bangor

Townships

* Almena Township * Antwerp Township * Arlington Township * Bangor Township * Bloomingdale Township * Columbia Township * Covert Township * Decatur Township * Geneva Township * Hamilton Township * Hartford Township * Keeler Township * Lawrence Township * Paw Paw Township * Pine Grove Township * Porter Township * South Haven Township * Waverly Township

Former townships

* Clinch Township existed from 1837 until 1842, when it was divided into Waverly Township and Almena Township.Walter Romig, ''Michigan Place Names'', p. 121.

References

External links

Van Buren County - Official Site
* {{Coord, 42.27, -86.31, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MI_source:UScensus1990 Michigan counties 1837 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1837