Leelanau County, Michigan
Encyclopedia
History
The county's name is said to be a Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
word meaning "delight of life", but it is a neologism made up by Indian agent and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft
Henry Schoolcraft
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 discovery of the source of the Mississippi River. He married Jane Johnston, whose parents were Ojibwe and Scots-Irish...
, who sometimes gave the name "Leelinau" to Native American women in his tales. He created many faux Indian place names in Michigan, from syllables from Ojibwe, Latin and Arabic. This source contends that the Ojibwas did not use the letter "L". See, List of Michigan county name etymologies.
More recently, however, scholars have established that Leelinau was first used as a pen name by Henry's wife, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, also known as Bamewawagezhikaquay is the first known American Indian literary writer. She was of Ojibwa and Scots-Irish ancestry...
, in writings for The Literary Voyager, a family magazine which they wrote together in the 1820s. Jane Johnston was of Ojibwa and Scots-Irish descent, and wrote in Ojibwe and English. While her writing was not published formally in her lifetime (except as Schoolcraft appropriated it under his own name), Jane Johnston Schoolcraft has been recognized as "the first Native American literary writer, the first known Indian woman writer, the first known Indian poet, the first known poet to write poems in a Native American language, and the first known American Indian to write out traditional Indian stories." In 2008 Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 21,119 people, 8,436 households, and 6,217 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 61 people per square mile (23/km²). There were 13,297 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.52% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.25% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 3.66% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.24% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.02% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.34% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.97% from two or more races. 3.29% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race. 23.3% were of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, 11.5% English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, 9.9% Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, 9.0% Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, 6.0% French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and 5.2% American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.1% spoke English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and 2.9% Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as their first language.
There were 8,436 households out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.60% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 22.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 24.20% from 25 to 44, 28.30% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $47,062, and the median income for a family was $53,228. Males had a median income of $35,719 versus $25,778 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $24,686. About 3.30% of families and 5.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.40% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.
Government
The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates themajor local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers
public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and
other social services. The county board of commissioners
County commission
A county commission is a group of elected officials charged with administering the county government in local government in some states of the United States. County commissions are usually made up of three or more individuals...
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.
Leelanau County elected officials
- Prosecuting AttorneyProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
: Joseph T. Hubbell - SheriffSheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
: Michael Oltersdorf - County Clerk: Michelle L. Crocker
- County TreasurerTreasurerA treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
: Chelly Roush - Register of Deeds: Sue C. Stoffel
- Drain CommissionerDrain commissionerA drain commissioner is an elected official in counties of the U.S. state of Michigan with a population over 12,000. In counties with a population under 12,000, the statutory duties and responsibilities of the drain commissioner are performed by the county's board of road commissioners.The office...
: Steven R. Christensen
Other affiliations
- Leelanau County is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of GaylordRoman Catholic Diocese of GaylordThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaylord is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Northern Michigan region of the United States. It comprises the twenty-one most northern counties of the lower peninsula of the state, and includes the cities of Traverse City,...
and the Episcopal Diocese of Western MichiganEpiscopal Diocese of Western MichiganThe Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan is the Episcopal diocese in the western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.The diocese is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan and covers a 33-county area that stretches from the Straits of Mackinac southward to the Indiana border and from Lake...
.
(information as of September 2005)
Villages
- EmpireEmpire, MichiganEmpire is a village in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 378 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Empire Township.-Description:...
, village - NorthportNorthport, MichiganNorthport is a village in Leelanau Township, Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 648 at the 2000 census. When Leelanau County was formed in 1863, Northport served as the first county seat from 1863 to 1883.-Geography:...
, village - Suttons BaySuttons Bay, MichiganSuttons Bay is a village in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 589 at the 2000 census. The village was incorporated in 1898 and is located within Suttons Bay Township....
, village
Unincorporated Communities
- Burdickville, unincorporated
- Cedar, unincorporated
- Glen Arbor, unincorporated
- Glen HavenGlen Haven, MichiganGlenn Haven is a restored logging village on the shore of Lake Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Attractions include the restored General Store and Blacksmith Shop. The unincorporated community is located in Glen Arbor Township.Also located in...
, unincorporated - GreilickvilleGreilickville, MichiganGreilickville is an unincorporated community in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place used for statistical purposes and has no legal standing as a municipality. The population was 1,415 at the 2000 census....
, CDPCensus-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages... - Lake LeelanauLake Leelanau, MichiganLake Leelanau is an unincorporated community in Bingham Township, Leelanau County, Michigan, near the lake of the same name. It is situated along M-204 at the "narrows" that separate North & South Lake Leelanau.-History:...
, unincorporated - LelandLeland, MichiganLeland is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. It was the county seat of Leelanau County from 1883 to 2008, when a new government center was completed in Suttons Bay Township, closer to the county's geographic center....
, unincorporated - Maple CityMaple City, MichiganMaple City is an unincorporated community of Kasson Township, Leelanau County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population of Kasson Township, inclusive of Maple City, was 1,577. It is located at , between sections two and three of the township. The ZIP code is...
, unincorporated - OmenaOmena, MichiganOmena is a small unincorporated community in Leelanau Township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Overlooking Omena Bay, on the western side of Grand Traverse Bay, Omena is home to wineries and farms including a thriving organic farming movement that includes cherries and...
, unincorporated - PeshawbestownPeshawbestown, MichiganPeshawbestown is an unincorporated community in Suttons Bay Township of Leelanau in the U.S. state of Michigan. In historical documents, the name is spelled variously as Peshabetown, Peshabatown, Pshawbatown, Preshabestown....
, unincorporated
Townships
- Bingham TownshipBingham Township, Leelanau County, MichiganBingham Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 2,425. The township is named for Kinsley S. Bingham, a U.S. Representative and U.S...
- Centerville TownshipCenterville Township, MichiganCenterville Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,095 at the 2000 census.- Communities and landmarks :...
- Cleveland TownshipCleveland Township, MichiganCleveland Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,040 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
- Elmwood Charter TownshipElmwood Charter Township, MichiganElmwood Charter Township is a charter township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,264 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
- Empire TownshipEmpire Township, MichiganEmpire Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,085 at the 2000 census. The village of Empire is located within the township.-Geography:...
- Glen Arbor TownshipGlen Arbor Township, MichiganGlen Arbor Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 788 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
- Kasson TownshipKasson Township, MichiganKasson Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,577 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
- Leelanau TownshipLeelanau Township, MichiganLeelanau Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,139 at the 2000 census.- Communities and landmarks :...
- Leland TownshipLeland Township, MichiganLeland Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the early 2000s, the unincorporated community of Leland, which lies totally within the township, was the county seat of Leelanau County...
- Solon TownshipSolon Township, Leelanau County, MichiganSolon Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,542 at the 2000 census.-Communities:...
- Suttons Bay TownshipSuttons Bay Township, MichiganSuttons Bay Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,982 at the 2000 census. The village of Suttons Bay is located within the township...
Wineries
There are eighteen wineries on the peninsula. The Leelenau Peninsula sits close to the 45th parallel, a longitude known for growing prestigious grapes. The two Grand Traverse BaysGrand Traverse County, Michigan
-Air service:*Grand Traverse County is served by Cherry Capital Airport, which is located near Traverse City.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 77,654 people, 30,396 households, and 20,730 families residing in the county. The population density was 167 people per square mile . ...
provide the ideal maritime climate and the rich soil does the rest. Northern Michigan specializes in growing white grapes and is known for its rieslings which grow well in the summer months and late fall which Traverse City is known for. Every October the wineries host a harvest fest. Some riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
grapes are spared being picked in the fall to be picked when they freeze, from which Ice Wine
Ice wine
Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more...
is made. Wineries in the Leelanau Peninsula AVA
Leelanau Peninsula AVA
The Leelanau Peninsula AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Leelanau County, Michigan.This Michigan wine region includes all of Leelanau County, which forms a peninsula between Lake Michigan on the west and Grand Traverse Bay on the east. Being surrounded by water helps to moderate the...
include Leelanau Cellars, Silver Leaf Vineyard and Winery, Gill's Pier Vineyard and Winery, Raftshol Vineyards, Circa Estate Winery, Forty-Five North Vineyard and Winery, Good Harbor Vineyards, Chateau Fontaine, Boskydel Vineyards, Black Star Farms, L. Mawby Vineyards, Ciccone Vineyard and Winery, Willow Vineyards, Chateau de Leelanau Vineyard and Winery, Shady Lane Cellars, Cherry Republic Winery, Longview Winery, and Bel Lago Winery.
Further reading
- Clarke Historical Library, Central, Michigan University, Bibliography for Leelanau County
- Bogue, Margaret. Around the Shores of Lake Michigan: A Guide to Historic Sites. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin PressUniversity of Wisconsin PressThe University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It primarily publishes work by scholars from the global academic community but also serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and...
, 1985. - Reed, Earl H. The Dune Country. Berrien Springs, MI: Hardscrabble Books, 1979. [Reprint of 1916 Edition].
- Ruchhoft, Robert H. Exploring North Manitou, South Manitou, High and Garden Islands of the Lake Michigan Archipelago. Cincinnati, OH: Pucelle Press, 1991.
- Wood, Mable C. Scooterville, U.S.A. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962.
External links
- Leelanau Government & Community Center
- Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
- Glen Arbor Chamber of Commerce
- Leland Chamber of Commerce
- Northport-Omena Chamber of Commerce
- Suttons Bay Chamber of Commerce
- The Leelanau Enterprise (local newspaper)
- Leelanau.com (news, photos & links)
- The Leelanau Post
- Fountain Point Resort website