Monroe 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 U.S. state of

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 154,809. The largest city and

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 Monroe. The county was established as the second county (after Wayne County) in 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 ...

in 1817 and was named for then-President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

. Monroe County is coterminous with the Monroe metropolitan statistical area.

History

Before the county's formation, the primary settlement was Frenchtown, which was settled in as early as 1784 along the banks of the

River Raisin The River Raisin (, 'River of Sturgeon') is a river in southeast Michigan, United States, that flows in a generally easterly direction through Ice age, glacial sediments before emptying into Lake Erie. The River Raisin drainage basin covers app ...

. The small plot of land was given to the early French settlers by the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

Native Americans, and the area was claimed for

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

. The settlement of Frenchtown, Michigan and the slight northerly settlement of Sandy Creek drew in a total of about 100 inhabitants. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, the area was the site of the

Battle of Frenchtown The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the ...

, which was the worst American defeat in the war and remains the deadliest conflict ever on Michigan soil. The site of the battle is now part of the

River Raisin National Battlefield Park The River Raisin National Battlefield Park preserves the site of the Battle of Frenchtown as the only national battlefield marking a site of the War of 1812. It was established as the 393rd unit of the United States National Park Service under T ...

. Monroe County was formed from the southern portion of Wayne County in 1817. At the time, the

, which had not yet received statehood, consisted of only Wayne County since

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

was the only area which had a non-indigenous population over 1,000 people. When the area became more populated, the southern portion of Wayne County was broken off to form Monroe County; the settlement of Frenchtown was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted with the name "Monroe". The settlement also incorporated as a village in 1817 and became the

of Monroe County. The county and its county seat were named in honor of then-President James Monroe in anticipation of his upcoming visit to the city. Shortly after its formation, Monroe County's population was recorded at only 336 in the 1820 census. When the county was originally formed, it stretched for inland (twice its current size), but the western half was split off to form Lenawee County in 1826. Monroe County's most famous resident,

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

(1839–1876), moved to Monroe as a child and lived with his half-sister and brother-in-law. Although not born in Monroe, he attended school in Monroe and later moved away to attend the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. He returned to Monroe in 1864 during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

to marry Elizabeth Bacon (1842–1933), whom he met while previously living in Monroe. Much of Custer's family resided in Monroe, included Elizabeth Bacon, Henry Armstrong Reed (1858–1876), and Boston Custer (1848–1876). After their deaths in the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

, Henry and Boston were interred and memorialized in Monroe's historic Woodland Cemetery, as are many members of Bacon's family. Although George Custer died in the same battle, he was interred at

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, West Point, New York (state), New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Continental Army s ...

and Elizabeth Bacon was buried next to him when she died many decades later. In 1910, then-President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

and the widowed Elizabeth Bacon unveiled an equestrian statue of Custer which now sits at the corner of Elm Street and Monroe Street in the heart of downtown Monroe.

Border disputes

When the city of Toledo was incorporated in 1833, it was part of Monroe County instead of the state of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The small strip of land surrounding the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) (; ) is a river running in the Midwestern United States from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph River (Maumee River), St. Joseph and St. Mar ...

was under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Territory, because the borders originally drawn up for the

Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...

of 1787 set a territorial boundary as the southernmost edge of

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 ...

. When Ohio became the first in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

to gain statehood in 1803, the state's northern border claimed this important area, even though the boundaries of the Michigan Territory when it was formally organized in 1805 also included this area. From 1833 to 1836, Toledo belonged to Monroe County, which led to the very heated Toledo War border dispute between the Michigan Territory and the state of Ohio for the area known as the Toledo Strip. In late 1836, President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

, who earlier had appointed his brilliant young aide Stevens T. Mason as the Michigan Territory's "boy governor", intervened to settle the dispute. The federal government gave the Toledo Strip to Ohio in exchange for Michigan getting 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 ...

, then considered a wasteland, when it became a state on January 26, 1837. While Toledo was part of Monroe County, it surpassed Monroe in terms of size and population. In 1915, Michigan Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris and Ohio Governor Frank B. Willis called a ceremonial truce to the border conflict when new state line markers were erected. The new state line at the end of the Toledo War was established at approximately the 41°44' north

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

line just north of the mouth of the

. This gave the river and the city of Toledo to the state of Ohio, but it also created an unintended consequence for a specific area of Michigan. The state line also cut through the smaller

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

and inadvertently cut off a small section of Monroe County, creating an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

known as the " Lost Peninsula" (). The few Michigan residents that live on the small peninsula must travel south into

Lucas County, Ohio Lucas County is a Counties of the United States, county located in the Northwest Ohio, northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is bordered to the east by Lake Erie, and to the southeast by the Maumee River, which runs to the lake. As o ...

on a 10-minute drive before going north to get back to the rest of Michigan. The Lost Peninsula is administered by Erie Township and most of the peninsula contains a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

. Monroe County's boundary remained unchanged from 1837 to 1973, when a final unresolved dispute from the Toledo War was resolved, 136 years after the conflict. Ownership over the very small, uninhabited Turtle Island in a remote portion of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

was disputed for decades after the island's lighthouse was shut down. The island was long controlled by Michigan but still disputed by Ohio. On February 22, 1973, an agreement was met, and state lines were redrawn for the last time to cut exactly through the tiny island, which divided the island between Monroe County and Lucas County. Erie Township has jurisdiction over the Michigan half of Turtle Island, and the city of Toledo controls the other half. What to do with the island remains a contentious issue since neither side can come to any agreement. Today, the island has several abandoned structures, and the recent building of new structures was halted by a court order.

Economic history

Prior to the mid-20th century, Monroe County remained largely agrarian and was well known for its numerous paper mills—the first of which was founded in 1834. In 1916, August Meyer founded Brisk Blast, which was a bicycle pump manufacturer that was later expanded to produce automotive shocks in 1919 as the Monroe Auto Equipment Company. In 1977, the company merged with the international

Tenneco Tenneco, Inc. (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a ''F ...

company. Today, their world headquarters are located in Monroe Charter Township and continue to manufacture Monroe Shocks and Struts. In 1927, cousins Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker founded a small furniture making company in their garage. This would later evolve into the worldwide La-Z-Boy Incorporated, and their world headquarters are located on North Telegraph Road in Monroe. In 1957, the

Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately . All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and ...

first opened in Frenchtown Charter Township near

. Today, the plant is operated by Detroit Edison but is entirely owned by parent company DTE Energy. In 1974, the

Monroe Power Plant The Monroe Power Plant is a coal-fired power plant located in Monroe, Michigan, on the western shore of Lake Erie. It is owned by the DTE Energy Electric Company, a subsidiary of DTE Energy. The plant was constructed in the early 1970s and began ...

, currently the fourth largest coal firing plant in North America, opened. At tall, the dual smokestacks are visible from over away and are among the tallest structures in the state. A third smokestack—shorter and wider than the other two—was constructed as the plant responds to meet environmental regulations. In 1929, Newton Steel opened a manufacturing plant on Lake Erie in Monroe, and this plant would later be purchased by

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

in 1942, Kelsey-Hayes in 1947, the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

in 1949 later under their Visteon division in 2000 and then as the Automotive Components Holdings in 2005. The plant, one of the most prominent manufacturing job in the county, produces various car parts for Ford. The plant itself is also well known for its high level of chemicals that once polluted Lake Erie and the

. Although threatened to close, the factory remains open with 1,200 employees. Today the Port of Monroe is still heavily industrialized and various other industries have moved to Monroe County in recent years. In 2001,

Cabela's Cabela's Inc. is an American retailer that specializes in hunting, fishing, boating, camping, and other outdoor recreation merchandise. The chain was founded by Richard N. Cabela and Jim Cabela in 1961. Cabela's was acquired by Springfield, Mi ...

built a store in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. As one of the largest stores of its kind, this location is a major tourist destination and has greatly improved the economy of Dundee. The Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance was also founded in Dundee in 2002.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (19%) is water. Monroe is Michigan's only county on

. The

and Sandy Creek flow through the county. Sterling State Park is the county's only state park and the only of Michigan's 98 state parks located on Lake Erie. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge extends south into Monroe County and includes part of the North Maumee Bay Archeological District. Monroe County sits at the lowest elevation in Michigan, which is the shores of Lake Erie at .

Adjacent counties

* Wayne County (northeast) * Washtenaw County (northwest) *

Essex County, Ontario Essex County is a primarily rural county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising seven municipalities: Amherstburg, Kingsville, Ontario, Kingsville, Lakeshore, Ontario, Lakeshore, LaSalle, Ontario, LaSalle, Leamington, Ontario, Leamington, Tec ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

(east) * Lenawee County (west) *

(south)

Climate

Monroe County lies in the

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

zone. The city of Monroe only receives an average of of snow a year — the lowest average snowfall for any large city in the state. July is the warmest month with an average high temperature of , and January is the coldest month with an average low temperature of . The county does not normally have extremely hot or cold temperatures. On average, the temperature only drops below a couple of times during a winter season, and it is even rarer for the temperature to rise above during the summer. The coldest recorded temperature was on February 5, 1918. The highest recorded temperature was on July 24, 1934, with another equal temperature recorded on one occasion many years earlier. Severe weather events are very rare. Monroe County has experienced a total approximately 30

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

es since 1950. Infrequent

waterspout A waterspout is a rotating column of air that occurs over a body of water, usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud in contact with the water and a cumuliform cloud. There are two types of waterspout, each formed by distinct mechanisms. ...

s can also be seen out on

. Many tornadoes have been a part of major outbreaks, and none have directly affected the heavily populated areas. Three separate F4 tornadoes killed 13 people during the

1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak The 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak was a historic severe weather event that affected the Midwestern and Southeastern United States on April 10–12, 1965. The tornado outbreak produced 55 confirmed tornadoes in one day and 16& ...

on April 11, 1965. In the Super Outbreak of April 3–4, 1974, two tornadoes (one F2 and one F3) caused five deaths. The most tornadoes from a single storm came on August 29, 1979, when four tornadoes touched down in and near Monroe. However, the tornadoes were weak (three F1 and one F0), and there were no deaths. The most recent tornado to touchdown and cause significant damage in the county struck Dundee Township in a minor outbreak that caused several tornadoes around the southern portion of Michigan on the morning of June 6, 2010. Since Monroe is too far north and inland, no

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

have struck Monroe County directly. However, some of the strongest hurricanes have affected the county with a few irregular inches of increased rainfall, although they have had no more power in the area than a depression does. Tropical Storm Candy (

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

) traveled unusually far inland and dropped of rain. Other storms, such as

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread destruction across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. The eleventh tropical cyclone, eighth Tropical cyclone naming, named st ...

(

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

) and

Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Isabel was a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the east coast of the United States in September 2003. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed in the eastern Atlantic ...

(

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) also dropped trace amounts of rain with over winds—long after they lost their hurricane status.

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 145,945 people, 53,772 households, and 39,952 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 56,471 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.42%

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 ...

, 1.90%

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 ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.62% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. 2.13% of the population was

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. 28.5% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 8.9% American, 8.3% Polish, 8.2% French, 8.0% Irish, 7.5% English and 5.7%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

ancestry, 96.4% spoke only English at home, while 1.5% spoke Spanish. There were 53,772 households, out of which 36.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% 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, 10.10% had a female household with no husband present, and 25.70% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.14. In the county, 27.40% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.10% was from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $51,743, and the median income for a family was $59,659. Males had a median income of $46,715 versus $27,421 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 $22,458. About 4.80% of families and 7.00% 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 8.10% of those under age 18 and 8.30% of those age 65 or over. In the 2008 census report, the county's population was estimated to be 152,949. The most common ethnicity cited was German (34.9%), followed by Irish (15.2%), French (11.1%), Polish (10.5%) and English (8.9%) English. The smallest population of any significant American ethnic group in the county was those of Danish ancestry, numbering only 45 people. The largest racial group reported in the county in 2008 was those of White ancestry (95.3%). Black people accounted for 2.4%, while Asian Americans were 0.7% and Native Americans 0.3%. People of Hispanic or Latino ancestry accounted for 2.7%.

Education

Monroe County contains nine public school districts. There are approximately 23,000 students in public schools in the county. Public school district boundaries are not conterminous with the county boundary or any municipality boundaries within the county. The county is a "district of choice" county, and students have the option to attend any district in the county, even if they do not live within a particular district. Students near the county line, especially those in northern locations such as

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Flat Rock, Milan Township, and London Township, are assigned to districts in the neighboring counties of Wayne and Washtenaw. Located primarily in Monroe County, Airport Community Schools and Whiteford Agricultural Schools have boundaries that extend into neighboring counties thus a small number of out-of-county students attend schools in Monroe County. There are two

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

s in the county with a total of 750 students. There are also 15

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

s with approximately 2,200 students enrolled in the private sector. The county is also served by one

independent school district An independent school district (ISD) is a type of school district in some US states for primary and secondary education that operates as an entity independent and separate from any municipality or county, and only under the oversight of the res ...

, the Monroe County Intermediate School District, which provides education services and staff support at all of the county's schools. Established in 1964 and first opened to students in 1967, Monroe County Community College is the only

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution in the county. Marygrove College, sponsored by the local

Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.H.M.) is a Catholicism, Catholic Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute of sisters, founded in 1845 by Fr. Louis Florent Gillet, Redemptorists, CSsR, and Mother Theresa Maxis D ...

(IHM), was founded in Monroe in 1905 as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

college. The college moved to its current location in

in 1927. The IHM also operated a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

, the Hall of the Divine Child, in Monroe from 1918 to 1980. Students in the county may be homeschooled.

K-12 education

Monroe County is served by 14 public school districts, with nine of them based in the county. The largest of these is Monroe Public Schools, which enrolls approximately 6,450 students in the city of Monroe and outlying area of the city limits. With around 2,100 students, Monroe High School is one of the largest high schools in the state. The Monroe County Intermediate School District is an

that provides services to both public and private schools in the county. Students in Monroe County can choose to enroll in any public school district in the county, granted the district has available space. If a student attends a school outside of their normal district, the school will usually not provide transportation for the student. The district boundary map is provided by the Michigan Department of Information Technology. All district's athletic teams are governed by the

Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Assoc ...

. A small number of schools have been closed down or reused for different purposes, and some of the smaller districts consists of a single elementary school and a combined middle and high school.

Districts

School districts include: * Airport Community School District * Bedford Public Schools * Blissfield Community Schools * Britton Deerfield School District * Flat Rock Community Schools * Dundee Community Schools * Huron School District * Ida Public School District * Jefferson Schools * Mason Consolidated Schools * Milan Area Schools * Monroe Public Schools * Summerfield School District * Whiteford Agricultural School District

Schools

: : : : : : :

Politics

Monroe County was a swing county in presidential elections. It has voted for the winning candidate for president in 16 of the last 19 presidential elections, the only exceptions being in 1968, 2000, and 2020. In 2016,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

received 58% of the vote, the largest percentage since

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in 1984. In 2020, Trump outdid his 2016 total by winning 60.4% of the vote. In 2024, he yet again improved in the county, taking 62.8% of the vote, likely indicating that Monroe County is now a consistently Republican-leaning county. The county prohibits construction of solar power plants.

Landmarks and attractions

* Custer Airport * Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge * Detroit River Light * Dundee Historic District *Eby Log Cabin * East Elm-North Macomb Street Historic District * Edward Loranger House *

* George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument * Governor Robert McClelland House * Hall of the Divine Child, now the Norman Towers residence hall * Jefferson Avenue-Huron River Bridge * La-Z-Boy world headquarters *Martha Barker Country Store Museum *Monroe County Fair ( Stock Arena) *Monroe County Historical Museum *Monroe County Labor History Museum *Monroe County Vietnam Veterans Historical Museum *Monroe Multi-Sports Complex *

* Navarre-Anderson Trading Post * North Maumee Bay Archeological District * Old Mill Museum * Old Village Historic District * Pointe Mouillee State Game Area *River Raisin Battlefield Visitor Center *

*River Raisin Centre for the Arts * Rudolph Nims House * St. Mary's Church Complex Historic District * St. Michael the Archangel Church * Sawyer House *

*Southern Michigan Timberwolves are based in Monroe. * Sterling State Park * The Mall of Monroe (formerly known as Frenchtown Square Mall) * Weis Manufacturing Company * Woodland Cemetery

Transportation

Portions of Monroe County are served by the Lake Erie Transit

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

ation bus system. Established in 1975, Lake Erie Transit currently has a fleet of 31 buses and serves approximately 400,000 riders every year. In 2008, the system logged 764,000 miles. The system operates buses on eight fixed routes in and around the city of Monroe. It also serves several neighboring townships outside of its normal routes should a passenger call ahead for a ride. From Bedford Township, its provides transportation to and from two shopping malls in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. * travels through the eastern portion of the county and provides access to Toledo to the south and

to the north. I-75 provides an uninterrupted route as far south as

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

and as far north as the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge. * has its southern terminus just north of Monroe in the northeast portion of the county. Splitting off from I-75, I-275 is a western bypass around Detroit but does not actually merge back with I-75. I-275 serves as a main route to the Metro Airport. * runs along the western portion of the county, passing right through

and proceeding north through

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. US 23 is a limited-access

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

with interchanges rather than intersections. * travels through Monroe and provides access to Toledo and western portions of Detroit. The road is known locally as North Telegraph and South Telegraph—divided at the

. US 24 also connects to I-275 just north of Monroe. * was the designated name for the portion of Dixie Highway north of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, including the portion running through Monroe. Like Dixie Highway, US 25 was largely replaced, and the existing highway was truncated at Cincinnati. * only runs a short distance through the southwestern corner of the county, where it connects Toledo to US 127 in Michigan. In Monroe County, it is known as St. Anthony Road, and the US 223 designation continues on a 90° bend south with US 23. * has its eastern terminus is in Monroe at US 24 and provides a direct route from Monroe to

and further into the state. In Monroe, M-50 is known locally as South Custer Road. In Dundee, it is referred to as East Monroe Street and, after the River Raisin, Tecumseh Road. * travels directly through downtown Monroe before merging into US 24 north of Monroe. South of downtown after Jones Avenue, it is called South Dixie Highway. In the downtown area, it is South Monroe Street. North of the River Raisin, it is North Monroe Street. * was a state highway existing from 1930 to 1955 and ran along the north banks of the River Raisin. M-130 had its eastern terminus at US 24 and ran for just over . In 1955, control of the highway was transferred back to the county and is now called North Custer Road. * was a state highway existing from 1935 to 1977. It ran through the southern portion of the county, connecting US 23 to the now-decommissioned US 25. Today, the road is called Samaria Road, with the eastern portion called Lakeside Road. * Dixie Highway marker

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

ran through Monroe County in as early as 1915. Originally one of the few ways to reach places like

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, the highway was largely replaced by I-75 beginning in the 1960s. Today, the namesake of the highway is used for two non-connecting highways (one being M-125), although the same route and remnants of the original highway are long gone. * Airport Sign

Custer Airport was built in 1946 and is located just west of downtown Monroe. It is a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airport, with no commercial or passenger service. The airport has one paved runway primarily used by small private aircraft. There is also a small aviation school on the site.Custer Airport details
* Airport Sign

Toledo Suburban Airport, not to be confused with the much larger Toledo Express Airport, is located in the southwest portion of the county near Lambertville. Like the Custer Airport, this is a general aviation facility with one paved runway and no scheduled flights. It serves as a fueling station, a test center, and a flight instruction center.

Communities

Cities

* Flat Rock (partial) * Luna Pier *

(partial) * Monroe (county seat) * Petersburg

Villages

* Carleton *

* Estral Beach * Maybee * South Rockwood

Charter townships

* Berlin Charter Township * Frenchtown Charter Township * Monroe Charter Township

Civil townships

* Ash Township * Bedford Township * Dundee Township * Erie Township * Exeter Township * Ida Township * La Salle Township * London Township * Milan Township * Raisinville Township * Summerfield Township * Whiteford Township

Census-designated places

* Detroit Beach * Ida * Lambertville * South Monroe * Stony Point * Temperance * West Monroe * Woodland Beach

Other unincorporated communities

* Avalon Beach * Azalia * Bolles Harbor *

Cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

* Diann * Erie * Evergreen Acres *

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

* Golfcrest * Grand View *

Grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

* Hillcrest Orchard * Ida Center * La Salle * Liberty Corners *

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

* Lost Peninsula *

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

* Newport * North Shores * Oakville * Oldport * Ottawa Lake * Patterson Gardens * Petersburg Junction * Pointe aux Peaux * Rea * Saint Anthony *

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

* Scofield * Steiner * Stony Creek * Strasburg *

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

* Whiteford Center * Yargerville

Notable people

* Betty Whiting (1925–1967),

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

player * Boston Custer (1848–1876), younger brother of George Custer, lived in Monroe * Bronco McKart (b. 1971), former

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

champion * Carl Ford (b. 1980),

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player * Charles Blue Jacket (1817–1897),

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

chief who lived in northern Monroe County *

Christie Brinkley Christie Lee Brinkley (née Hudson; born February 2, 1954) is an American model. Brinkley appeared on an unprecedented three consecutive covers of ''Sports Illustrated'' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Swimsuit Issues in 1979, 1980, and 1981 ...

(b. 1954),

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

who was born in Monroe * Elizabeth Bacon Custer (1842–1933), wife of General Custer, was born in Monroe * Elizabeth Caroline Crosby (1888–1983), noted neuroanatomist, was born and lived in Petersburg *Elizabeth McWebb (1904–2004), author of the ''Little Brown Bear'' book series * Elroy M. Avery (1844–1935), politician, author, and historian who was born in Erie Township * Eric Wilson (b. 1978),

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

player for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

* Ernest Ingersoll (1852–1946),

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

(1839–1876), Major General who lived much of his early life in Monroe * George Spalding (1836–1915), former teacher and politician * Harry L. Corl (1914–1942),

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

recipient who lived in Lambertville * Henry Armstrong Reed (1858–1876), nephew of George Custer, lived in Monroe * Isaac P. Christiancy (1812–1890), former Chief Justice of the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the s ...

* J. Sterling Morton (1832–1902), prominent conservationist who lived in Monroe from 1834 to 1854 * Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (b. 1963), native from Monroe who was the 1988

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

winner *

Mary Harris Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onward, was an Irish-born American labor organizer, former schoolteacher, and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organi ...

(1837–1930),

union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. In some unions, the organizer's role is to recruit groups of workers under the organizing ...

who moved to Monroe from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

* Megan Moulton-Levy (b. 1985), collegiate tennis player born in Monroe * Oswald J. Gaynier (1915–1942),

recipient who was born in Monroe * Rico Hoye (b. 1974), professional boxer * Robert McCelland (1807–1880), prominent Michigan politician *

Vern Sneider Vernon J. Sneider (6 October 1916 – 1 May 1981) was an American novelist. His 1951 novel ''The Teahouse of the August Moon (novel), The Teahouse of the August Moon'' was later adapted for a The Teahouse of the August Moon (play), Broadway pl ...

(1916–1981), American novelist who lived in Monroe * Vic Braden (1929–2014), former

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

champion and coach

References

External links

official Monroe County website
* * — ''online photographs collection''. * * {{Authority control Michigan counties Metro Detroit 1817 establishments in Michigan Territory Populated places established in 1817