Cass

Formed October 29, 1829 (20^th county)

Cass County (51,591), Cassopolis (1,734), Dowagiac (5,723)

The classic stone Romanesque Revival courthouse, built in 1899, stands out in this small community.  It is on a square on Broadway, State, York, and Rowland streets.  The courthouse was designed by Rush, Bowman, and Rush.  The courthouse was enlarged in 1976 and a Courts Building was built in 2003.  The courthouse features a bell tower with a working clock.  Cass County was established on October 29, 1829 from Native American Territory as the 20^th county.  Edwardsburg was the first county seat followed by Cassopolis in 1831.  Michigan State Highway 60 is Broadway Street in the town.  Cass County is named for Michigan Territory Governor Lewis Cass.  The county seat also comes from Lewis Cass plus the Greek word for “city.” 

Cass County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive).  It has 8 Commissioners (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judge, One District Court Judge, One Probate Court Judge and court clerk serve Cass County (judicial.) Grand Rapids, Michigan is north and South Bend, Indiana is south of the county.  The county center is 1.3 miles Northeast of Cassopolis.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Van Buren, Kalamazoo, and Saint Joseph counties and Indiana and Berrien County. 

The area of the county is 508 square miles.  It is 83 out of 83 in the state.  It ranks 35 out of 83 in population in the state.  It has a density of 101.6 persons per square mile making it 29 out of 83 in the state.  Cass County has 19.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 12 crosses the county east to west from Saint Joseph County to Berrien County.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Cassopolis is slightly southwest of center in the county.  Dowagiac is in the northwest quarter of the county.  Cassopolis is the county seat and Dowagiac is the largest city.  Cassopolis is 3.4% of the county population while Dowagiac is 11.1% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced DOE-WAG-E-AK.  This county is in the South Bend-Mishawaka Metropolitan Statistical Area.