Benzie

Formed January 1, 1863 (76^th county)

Benzie County (17,973), Beulah (302), Frankfort (1,253)

The red brick Modern structure was built in 1976 on Court Place one block east of United States Highway 31.  There was a 1912 courthouse in Beulah and an earlier structure in Honor.  Blacklock & Schwartz are the building designers.  Benzie County was created on January 1, 1863 from Leelanau County as the 76^th county.  Benzonia (1869), Frankfort (1894), Honor (1908), and Beulah (1916) have all served as county seat.  The county’s name is a French derivative for the river meaning “river of sawbill ducks.”  The county seat is named for a Biblical location. 

Benzie County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive).  It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judges and Three District Court Judges serve Benzie and Manistee counties and Two Probate Court Judges and court clerk serve Benzie County (judicial.) The county is on the northwest coast of the southern peninsula.  Lake Michigan is its western coast.  The county center is 3.2 miles East-Northeast of Beulah nearer Honor.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Wexford, and Manistee counties and Wisconsin. 

The area of the county is 860 square miles.  It is 37 out of 83 in the state.  It ranks 65 out of 83 in population in the state.  It has a density of 20.9 persons per square mile making it 59 out of 83 in the state.  Benzie County has 19.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 31 goes northeast to south in the county from Grand Traverse County to Manistee County.  The county appears to be an overstuffed chair.  Beulah is in the western third of the county.  Frankfort is on the southwest coast.  Beulah is the county seat and Frankfort is the largest city.  Beulah is 1.7% of the county population while Frankfort is 7.0% of the county population.  The county is pronounced BEN-ZEE.  The county seat is pronounced BEU-LA.  This county is in the Traverse City Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Thompsonville