Huron County, Michigan

Huron County, Michigan
Location in the state of Michigan
Michigan's location in the U.S.
Founded	1859
Seat	Bad Axe
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	2,136.47 sq mi (5,533 km²) 836.52 sq mi (2,167 km²) 1,299.95 sq mi (3,367 km²), 60.85%
Population  - (2000)  - Density	36,079 44/sq mi (17/km²)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.co.huron.mi.us
Footnotes: U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Huron County, Michigan

Huron County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 36,079 with an estimate of 32,236 in 2009. The county seat is Bad Axe. Huron County is located at the northern tip of the Thumb, which in turn is a sub region of the Flint/Tri-Cities. It is surrounded on three sides by water – Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron and has over 90 miles (140 km) of shoreline, from White Rock on Lake Huron to Sebewaing on the Saginaw Bay. Huron County's most important industry is agriculture, as with most of the other Thumb counties. Huron County enjoys seasonal tourism from large cities such as Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw. It is the home of Exelon Wind's Harvest 1 Wind Project.^{[citation needed]}

History

Huron County was attached originally to Sanilac and Tuscola counties. It was created by Michigan Law on April 1, 1840 and was fully organized by an Act of Legislature on January 25, 1859. Sand Beach (now Harbor Beach) was then county seat, until 1865, when the court house burned with nearly all the records. It was moved to Port Austin and remained there until 1873, when the Board of Supervisors permanently made Bad Axe the County Seat.

The name Huron was derived from the word "hures" as used in the phrase "In elles hures" (what heads) as applied by an astonished French traveler to the Wyandotte or Huron Indians on beholding their fantastic mode of dressing the hair. These Indians were dispersed by the Iroquois in 1649.

In the 17th and early 18th century in this region, the Thumb of Michigan, the suffix "onti" or "ondi" was used in place names such as Skenchioetontius and E. Kandechiondius. "Onti" means to jut out. The name Wyandotte, Huron descendants, was said to mean "dweller's of the peninsula". A headland or peninsula in Onondaga is "onoentoto".

In the early 18th century, the Thumb of Michigan was called the best beaver hunting in America, and the Detroit region was called Tio-sahr-ondion, which was near Skenchioe [now Huron and Sanilac Counties]. Tiosahrondion meant "where it is beaver dams athwart many".

About 1700, on French maps, "Chasse des caster des ami de Francois" was the region of Saginaw and the Thumb of Michigan. It meant the beaver hunting grounds of the friends of France.

Geography

• According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 2,136.47 square miles (5,533.4 km²), of which 836.52 square miles (2,166.6 km²) (or 39.15%) is land and 1,299.95 square miles (3,366.9 km²) (or 60.85%) is water.
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw is the controlling regional body for the Catholic Church.

Adjacent counties

• Sanilac County (southeast)
• Tuscola County (southwest)

Highways

• M-19
• M-25
• M-53
• M-142

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census indicates Huron County had a 2010 population of 33,118. This is a decrease of -2,961 people from the 2000 United States Census. Overall, the county had a -8.2% growth rate during this ten year period. In 2010 there were 14,348 households and 9,328 families in the county. The population density was 39.6 per square mile (15.3 square kilometers). There were 21,199 housing units at an average density of 25.4 per square mile (9.8 square kilometers). The racial and ethnic makeup of the county was 96.1% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 2.0% Hispanic or Latino, 0.0% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races.

There were 14,348 households out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were husband and wife families, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.0% were non-families, and 30.7% were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.7% under age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 30.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

The 2010 American Community Survey 3-year estimate indicates the median income for a household in the county was $38,789 and the median income for a family was $46,533. Males had a median income of $26,688 versus $15,198 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,342. About 1.4% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under the age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers public health 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.

Huron County elected officials Prosecuting Attorney: Timothy J. Rutkowski Sheriff: Kelly J. Hanson County Clerk: Peggy A. Koehler County Treasurer: Sherry Learman Register of Deeds: Sheri L. Stanton Circuit Court Judge: Hon. M. Richard Knoblock Probate Court Judge: Hon. David L. Clabuesch District Court Judge: Hon. David B. Herrington

Huron County Board of Commissioners DISTRICT NO. 1: John A. Horny DISTRICT NO. 2: David G. Peruski DISTRICT NO. 3: Clark D. Elftman DISTRICT NO. 4: Steve Vaughan DISTRICT NO. 5: John L.Bodis DISTRICT NO. 6: Ron Wruble DISTRICT NO. 7: John A. Nugent

(information as of January 8, 2011 Huron County Website)

Cities, villages, and townships

Cities Bad Axe Caseville Harbor Beach

Villages Elkton Kinde Owendale Pigeon Port Austin Port Hope Sebewaing Ubly

Unincorporated communities Bach Bay Port Berne Cracow Filion Glencoe

Grindstone City Helena Huron City Ivanhoe Kilmanagh Lewisville Linkville Parisville Pawlowski

Pinnebog Pointe aux Barques Popple Rapson Redman Rose Island Ruth

Valley Island Verona Weale White Rock

Townships

Bingham Township Bloomfield Township Brookfield Township Caseville Township Chandler Township Colfax Township

Dwight Township Fairhaven Township Gore Township Grant Township Hume Township Huron Township

Lake Township Lincoln Township McKinley Township Meade Township Oliver Township Paris Township

Pointe Aux Barques Township Port Austin Township Rubicon Township Sand Beach Township Sebewaing Township

Sheridan Township Sherman Township Sigel Township Verona Township Winsor Township

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Huron County, Michigan

External links

• Huron County economic development corporation/Community calendars, webcams and more
• Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography on Huron County
• Huron County Historical Society (Michigan), Huron County, Michigan. (2001, Arcadia Publishing).
• Huron County View
• Huron Daily Tribune
• Information about Michigan's Thumb