Huron County, Michigan
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Coordinates: 43°52′N 83°02′W / 43.867°N 83.033°W
| Huron County, Michigan | |
 Location in the state of Michigan |
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 Michigan's location in the U.S. |
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| Seat | Bad Axe |
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| Area - Total - Land - Water |
2,137 sq mi (5,535 km²) 837 sq mi (2,168 km²) 1,300 sq mi (3,367 km²), 60.85% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
36,079 44/sq mi (17/km²) |
| Founded | 1859 |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | www.co.huron.mi.us |
| Footnotes: USGS GNIS: 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 32,805 in 2008.[1] The county seat is Bad Axe.[2] Huron County is located at the northern tip of the 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.
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[edit] History
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) |
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.[3]
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 1600s and early 1700s 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 1700s, 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.
[edit] Geography
- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,136 square miles (5,533 km²), of which, 837 square miles (2,167 km²) of it is land and 1,300 square miles (3,367 km²) of it (60.85%) is water.
- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw is the controlling regional body for the Catholic Church.[4]
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Sanilac County (southeast)
- Tuscola County (southwest)
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Lake Huron | |
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| Saginaw Bay |  |
Lake Huron | ||
 Huron County, Michigan  |
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| Tuscola County | Sanilac County |
[edit] Highways
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 36,079 people, 14,597 households, and 10,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile (17/km²). There were 20,430 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile (9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.02% White, 0.19% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. 1.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 39.3% were of German, 18.6% Polish, 7.8% American, 6.7% English and 6.3% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.9% spoke English, 1.3% Spanish and 1.0% Polish as their first language.
There were 14,597 households out of which 29.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were married couples living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 27.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.20% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 19.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 97.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,315, and the median income for a family was $42,436. Males had a median income of $31,950 versus $21,110 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,851. About 7.30% of families and 10.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.20% of those under age 18 and 9.80% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] 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.
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Huron County elected officials
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Huron County Board of Commissioners
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(information as of November 4, 2008 Huron County Website)[6]
[edit] Cities, villages, and townships
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Cities |
Unincorporated communities[7] |
Townships
[edit] Notes
- ^ American FactFinder
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Huron County Earliest Settlers Chapter 2 (9-31)
- ^ Saginaw County Diocese home page,
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Huron County Website
- ^ [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/PlaceListing_79701_7.pdf PLACES IN MICHIGAN – INCORPORATED, TOWNSHIP, AND UNINCORPORATED]
[edit] 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 Daily Tribune
- Information about Michigan's Thumb
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