Oakland

Formed January 12, 1819 (5^th county)

Oakland County (1,274,395), Pontiac (61,601), Troy (87,300)

The Modern concrete and glass courthouse was built in 1964.  It is located at County Center and Telegraph streets.  United States Highway 24 is Telegraph Street.  O’Dell, Hewlet & Lukenbach are the architects.  The building was enlarged in 1968, 1994 and 1995.  Lady Justice sits in front of the courthouse.  An Administration Building augments the courthouse as well as a 1977 District Courthouse.  They all sit in a complex of county buildings.  There were 1824, 1858, and 1905 courthouses in Pontiac, the only county seat.  The county was formed on January 12, 1819 from Macomb County as the 5^th county.  The county is named for the many oak trees in the area.  The county seat is named for the Native American chief. 

Oakland County government consists of an executive, sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive).  It has 19 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eighteen Circuit Court Judges, Thirty-four District Court Judges, Four Probate Court Judges and court clerk serve Oakland County (judicial.) The county is in the southeast part of the southern peninsula.  Detroit, Michigan is southeast of the county.  The county center is 4.2 miles Southwest of Pontiac nearer Sylvan Lake.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lapeer, Macomb, Wayne, Washtenaw, Livingston, and Genesee counties. 

The area of the county is 908 square miles.  It is 32 out of 83 in the state.  It ranks 2 out of 83 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1403.5 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 83 in the state.  Oakland County has 63.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 goes north to south in the county from Genesee County to Wayne County.  Interstate Highway 96 crosses southeast to west from Wayne County to Livingston County.   United States Highway 24 originates and heads south into Wayne County.  The county is a rectangle.  Pontiac is in the eastern third of the county.  Troy is on the eastern border of the county.  Pontiac is the county seat and Troy is the largest city.  Pontiac is 4.8% of the county population while Troy is 6.9% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced PON-TEE-AK.  This county is in the Detroit-Warren-Livonia Metropolitan Statistical Area.