Mackinac 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 ...

in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

of 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 10,834. 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 St. Ignace. Formerly known as Michilimackinac County, in 1818 it was one of the first counties of the

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

, as it had long been a center of French and British colonial fur trading, a Catholic church and Protestant mission, and associated settlement. The county's name is shortened from "''Michilimackinac''", which referred to the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; ) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects the Great Lakes of Lake M ...

area as well as the French settlement at the tip of the lower peninsula. Mackinac County is one of two U.S. counties to feature shorelines on two Great Lakes, being

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

and

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

(the other county being neighboring Chippewa County).

History

Michilimackinac County was created on October 26, 1818, by proclamation of territorial governor

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

. The county originally encompassed the Lower Peninsula of Michigan north of Macomb County and almost the entire present

. As later counties were settled and organized, they were divided from this territory. On April 1, 1840, areas in the Lower Peninsula were laid off to create 30 new counites. By 1841, the County of Michilimackinac was confined to the Upper Peninsula and its nearby islands, bordering Chippewa and

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

counties. On March 9, 1843, Michigan further divided the Upper Peninsula into six counties. At this time, the County of Michilimackinac more closely resembled its modern configuration, including only a portion of the Upper Peninsula closest to the Straits of Mackinac, plus several islands. At the time of founding, the county seat was the community of Michilimackinac Island on Michilimackinac Island, later known as Mackinac Island, Michigan. This has been an important center for

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

before the 1830s, when European demand declined. The county was organized in 1849 as Mackinac County. In 1882 the county seat was moved from Mackinac Island to St. Ignace, Michigan, which had been founded as a French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission village during the colonial years. Mackinac County is home to the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, a Native American state recognized tribe located in St. Ignace.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (51%) is water. Mackinac County lies at the boundary of

and

. St. Ignace is the northern terminus of the

Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ; also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper and Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It spans the Str ...

Mackinac Island Mackinac Island ( , ; ; ; ) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin, meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in ...

is within the county. Due to its sparse population, the county has no weather stations.

Adjacent counties

By land * Chippewa County (northeast) * Luce County (northwest) * Schoolcraft County (west) By water * Presque Isle County (southeast) * Cheboygan County (south) * Emmet County (south) * Charlevoix County (southwest)

National protected area

* Hiawatha National Forest (part)

Communities

Cities

* St. Ignace (county seat)

Civil townships

* Bois Blanc Township * Brevort Township * Clark Township * Garfield Township * Hendricks Township * Holmes Township (Defunct) * Hudson Township * Marquette Township * Moran Township * Newton Township * Portage Township * St. Ignace Township

Census-designated place

* Naubinway

Unincorporated communities

* Allenville * Brevort * Caffey * Caffey Corner * Cedarville *

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of Fren ...

* Engadine * Epoufette * Evergreen Shores *

Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

* Gilchrist * Gould City * Gros Cap * Hessel * Huntspur *

Kenneth Kenneth is a given name of Gaelic origin. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

* Millecoquins * Moran * Ozark * Patrick Landing *

Pickford Pickford is a surname, and may refer to * Sir Alfred Pickford (1872–1947), Scouting luminary and friend of Lord Baden-Powell * Charlotte Hennessey (1873–1928), aka Charlotte Smith Pickford, Canadian-American actress, mother of Mary, Lottie, and ...

* Pointe Aux Pins * Pontchartrain Shores * Port Dolomite * Port Inland * Rexton * Rockview * Simmons

Indian reservations

* Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians * The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which is headquartered in Sault Ste. Marie in Chippewa County to the north, occupies two small territories within Mackinac County. One is located in St. Ignace Township about north of the city of St. Ignace on the shores of

. The other portion is located in rural northwest Clark Township.

Demographics

The 2010 United States census reported that Mackinac County had a population of 11,113, a decrease of 830 (-6.9%) from the 2000 census. In 2010 there were 5,024 households and 3,219 families 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 11,010 housing units at an average density of >). Racially, 76.5% of the population were

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 ...

, 17.3% Native American, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% of some other race and 5.3% of two or more races; 1.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). Culturally, 18.5% were of German, 8.8% English, 8.0% French,

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

, 7.6% Irish and 5.1% Polish ancestry. By the 2020 census, its population was 10,834. In 2010, there were 5,024 households, of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% 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, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.7. Among them, 18.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 19.3% from 25 to 44, 34.0% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. The population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $39,055 and the median family income was $50,984. 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 ...

was $22,195. About 10.5% of families and 14.1% 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 19.3% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over. Religiously,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

is the predominant religion for the county and region of the Upper Peninsula. Mackinac County is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette.

Education

School districts include: K-12: * Engadine Consolidated Schools * Les Cheneaux Community Schools * Mackinac Island Public Schools * Pickford Public Schools * Rudyard Area Schools * St. Ignace Area Schools * Tahquamenon Area Schools Elementary: * Bois Blanc Pines School District * Moran Township School District

Media

Newspapers

*The '' Mackinac Island Town Crier'' is the weekly seasonal newspaper of Mackinac Island. *The '' St. Ignace News'' is the weekly newspaper for the

area of the Mackinac Straits.

Television

The following

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

stations can be received in St. Ignace: *Channel 4: WTOM-TV "TV 7&4" ( NBC) ( Cheboygan) (simulcasted in Channel 7, Harrietta) *Channel 8: WGTQ "ABC 29&8" ( ABC) ( Goetzville) (simulcasted in Channel 29, Kalkaska) *Channel 10: WWUP-TV "9&10 News" ( CBS) ( Goetzville) (simulcasted in Channel 9, Tustin)

Radio

The following stations can be heard in St. Ignace:

FM

AM

Government

Mackinac County is reliably Republican. Since the 1964 landslide of

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

, it has only supported a Democrat twice, and neither time with a majority of the vote.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

won the county in his 1992 and 1996 victories; the latter remains the last time a Democratic presidential candidate has won the county. 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

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 ...

: J. Stuart Spencer *

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 ...

: Edward Wilk *

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 ...

: Hillary Vowell * County Treasurer: Jennifer Goudreau * Register of Deeds: Mary Jo Savard * County Surveyor: Jeffrey M. Davis (information as of April 2015)

Historical markers

There are 34 official state historical markers in the county: * Across the Peninsula *

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was a prominent American company that sold furs, skins, and buffalo robes. It was founded in 1808 by John Jacob Astor, a German Americans, German immigrant to the United States. During its heyday in the early 19th c ...

Store * Battlefield of 1814 * Biddle House * Bois Blanc Island * British Cannon * British Landing * Early Missionary Bark Chapel * Epoufette * Fort de Buade * Fort Holmes * Grand Hotel * Gros Cap Island & St. Helena Island * Historic Fort Mackinac * Indian Dormitory * Island House (Mackinac Island) *

* Lake View Hotel * Little Stone Church * Mackinac Conference *

* Mackinac Straits * Market Street * Mission Church * Mission House * Northernmost Point of

* Old Agency House * Round Island Lighthouse * Sainte Anne Church * St. Ignace * St. Ignace Mission * Skull Cave * Trinity Church (Mackinac Island) * Wawashkamo Golf Club

Transportation

Airports

The Mackinac County Airport (83D) in St. Ignace and Mackinac Island Airport (MCD) on Mackinac Island are located within Mackinac County. The nearest airports with scheduled commercial passenger service are Chippewa County International Airport (CIU) in Sault Ste. Marie and Pellston Regional Airport (PLN).

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * M-185 does not allow motor vehicles with the exception of emergency vehicles and service vehicles.

Ferry

Numerous companies operate ferries to Bois Blanc Island and

. Ferries to and from Mackinac Island sail from St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, while the Bois Blanc Island ferry sails from Cheboygan.

Rail

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

Attractions

* British Landing * Fort Mackinac * Garlyn Zoo * Straits State Park * Deer Ranch * Castle Rock (Michigan)

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Mackinac County governmentMackinac County Profile, Sam M Cohodas Regional Economist, Tawni Hunt Ferrarini, Ph.D.A History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Fuller, George N.St. Ignace visitor's bureau
{{Authority control Michigan counties Michigan placenames of Native American origin 1849 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1849