Lake County (formerly known as Aischum County) is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 12,096. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Baldwin.

History

The county was created by the Michigan Legislature in 1840 as Aischum County, then renamed Lake County in 1843, for its many lakes. It was administered by a succession of other Michigan counties prior to the organization of county government in 1871.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.2%) is water.

State trunkline highways

* enters from Mason County; goes through Baldwin; continues east into Osceola County * enters Lake County from Newaygo County; passes through Baldwin; continues north to Wexford County

National Protected Area

* Manistee National Forest (part)

Adjacent counties

* Osceola County (east) * Oceana County (southwest) * Wexford County (northeast) * Mason County (west) * Manistee County (northwest) * Newaygo County (south) * Mecosta County (southeast)

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 11,333 people, 4,704 households, and 3,052 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 13,498 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 84.66%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 11.17%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.01% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.57% from other races, and 2.40% from two or more races. 1.69% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 20.2% were of English ancestry, 20.0% were of German ancestry, 8.4% Irish, and 6.1% Dutch ancestry. 97.5% spoke only English, while 1.3% spoke Spanish at home. There were 4,704 households, out of which 23.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.40% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.10% were non-families. 29.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.79. In the county, 21.90% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.00% was from 18 to 24, 22.70% from 25 to 44, 27.60% from 45 to 64, and 19.70% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 109.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $26,622, and the median income for a family was $32,086. Males had a median income of $30,124 versus $21,886 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $14,457. About 14.70% of families and 19.40% 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 ...

, including 28.30% of those under age 18 and 12.00% of those age 65 or over. 24/7 Wall St. reported that Lake County is the poorest county in Michigan.

Government

The county government operates the

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains 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 de ...

regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget but has only 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

* Chief Trial Court Judge: David M. Glancy *

Prosecuting Attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

: Craig Cooper *

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

: Richard L. Martin *

County Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keepin ...

/ Register of Deeds: Patti Pacola * County Treasurer: Kellie Allen * County Surveyor: Patrick Johnson (information as of December 2016)

Communities

Villages

* Baldwin (county seat) * Luther

Civil townships

* Chase Township * Cherry Valley Township * Dover Township * Eden Township * Elk Township * Ellsworth Township * Lake Township * Newkirk Township * Peacock Township * Pinora Township * Pleasant Plains Township * Sauble Township * Sweetwater Township * Webber Township * Yates Township

Other unincorporated communities

Branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

(partially) * Chase * Idlewild * Irons *

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

* Sauble * Wolf Lake

Education

The West Shore Educational Service District, based in Ludington, services the districts in the county along with those of Mason and Oceana counties. The intermediate school district offers regional

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

and general education services, as well as technical career programs for its students. Lake County is served by the one regular

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

, Baldwin Community Schools.

References

External links

Lake County Road Commission Website
*
Lake County WebsiteLake County Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Michigan counties 1871 establishments in Michigan