Formed March 9, 1843 (68h county)
Ontonagon County (5,814), Ontonagon (1,265)
A brown brick Modern facility was erected in 1979 in Ontonagon. It is on Greenland Road at 7th Street. Michigan State Highway 38 is Greenland Road. C. Everett Thorsen is the architect. There were 1860 and 1896 versions of earlier courthouses in Ontonagon, the only county seat. The county was formed on March 9, 1843 from parts of Chippewa and Mackinac counties as the 68h county. The county and county seat are named for the Ontonagon River which is Native American for “hunting river.”
Ontonagon County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges and Two District Court Judges serve Ontonagon and Gogebic counties and Two Probate Court Judges and court clerk serve Ontonagon County (judicial.) The county is on the northwest border of the northern peninsula. Lake Superior forms its northern border. The county center is 16.7 miles South of Ontonagon nearer Rockland. The county is surrounded clockwise by Canada and Keweenaw, Houghton, Iron, and Gogebic counties and Minnesota.
The area of the county is 3741 square miles. It is 3 out of 83 in the state. It ranks 81 out of 83 in population in the state. It has a density of 1.6 persons per square mile making it 82 out of 83 in the state. Ontonagon County has 21.8% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 45 originates in the county and heads south into Gogebic County. The county looks like the number 7. The City of Ontonagon is on north central coast. Ontonagon is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 21.8% of the county population. The county and county seat are pronounced ON-TON-A-GON.
Ontonagon
