| County: | Keweenaw County |
| State: | Michigan |
| Founded Date: | March 11 |
| Founded Year: | 1861[1] [2] |
| Seat Wl: | Eagle River |
| City Type: | settlement |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 5966 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 540 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 5426 |
| Area Percentage: | 91 |
| Census Yr: | 2020 |
| Pop: | 2,046 |
| Density Sq Mi: | 4.0 |
| Web: | http://www.keweenawcountyonline.org/ |
| Ex Image: | Keweenaw County Courthouse Eagle River Michigan 2021-4252.jpg |
| District: | 1st |
| Time Zone: | Eastern |
| Largest City: | Mohawk (CDP) Ahmeek (village) |
Keweenaw County is a county in the western Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county.[3] It is also the state's largest county by total area, including the waters of Lake Superior, as well as the state's northernmost county. The county seat is Eagle River.[4]
Located at the northeastern end of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Keweenaw County is part of the Houghton, Michigan micropolitan area. Keweenaw County contains two National Park Service units: Isle Royale National Park and Keweenaw National Historical Park. The county is part of Michigan's Copper Country region, an area where copper mining was prevalent from the 1840s to the 1960s.
The county was set off and organized in 1861.[5] It is believed "Keweenaw" is a corruption of an Ojibwe word that means "portage" or "place where portage is made"; compare the names of the nearby Portage Lake and Portage River which together make up the Keweenaw Waterway.[6]
Two land masses comprise most of the land portion of the county: Isle Royale and the northeastern half of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The county also includes the waters of Lake Superior between the two, extending to the state's water borders with Ontario and Minnesota. It is thus the largest county in Michigan by total area, at, of which just is land and (91%) is water.[7] Of all counties (or equivalents) in the United States, Keweenaw County has the highest proportion of water area to total area.
The largest lake entirely within the county is Gratiot Lake at 1438acres, located at the base of the county's two highest peaks: Mt. Horace Greeley at 1550feet and Mt. Gratiot at 1490feet.[8] Other lakes include Lac La Belle near Bete Grise Bay, Lake Medora, Lake Fanny Hooe near Copper Harbor, Lake Bailey at the base of Mt. Baldy, and Schlatter Lake at the tip of the peninsula.
By land, one can only access mainland Keweenaw County via Houghton County.
Keweenaw County is the only county in Michigan to connect to the U.S. state of Minnesota via ferry service from Grand Portage to Windigo and Rock Harbor on Isle Royale.
By land
By water
The 2010 United States census indicated Keweenaw County had a population of 2,156.[9] This decrease of 145 people from the 2000 United States census represents a -6.3% change in population. In 2010 there were 1,013 households and 614 families in the county. The population density was 4/mi2. There were 2,467 housing units at an average density of 4/mi2. At the 2020 census, its population was 2,046.
At the 2010 census, 98.5% of the population were White, 0.1% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American and 1.2% of two or more races; a total of 0.7% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race); of them, 28.8% were of Finnish, 14.0% German, 9.0% English, 6.6% French, French Canadian or Cajun and 5.7% Irish ancestry.[10] According to the 2022 census estimates, its racial and ethnic makeup was 97% non-Hispanic white, 0.3% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% Asian American, 2% multiracial, and 1.5% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Through a 2020 survey by the Association of Religion Data Archives, Keweenaw County's religious population was predominantly Christian with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as the largest Christian group for the area. Following, the Roman Catholic Church was the second-largest Christian group in the county.[11]
Keweenaw County was solidly Republican after the American Civil War, and until the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era. In 1900,[12] 1904[13] and 1908[14] it stood as the nation most Republican county. In his last election of 1944, Roosevelt became the first Democrat to win the county since Horatio Seymour in 1868.[15] However, from 1964 to 1996 Keweenaw voted Democratic in every election except 1972 and 1980, thus standing as one of only six counties nationwide to support both Alf Landon and Walter Mondale, who suffered the two worst electoral vote losses since 1824. Since 2000, the county has become solidly Republican again.
The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, records deeds, mortgages, and vital records, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget and has 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.The Keweenaw County Courthouse and Sheriff's Residence and Jail in Eagle River faces Lake Superior. The courthouse was built in 1866, followed by the sheriff's residence and jail in 1886, and then remodeled in 1925. In her book Buildings of Michigan, Eckert writes:
"Like a meetinghouse on a New England public square, and enclosed by a 3adj=onNaNadj=on high public wall on the east and south sides, ...transformed in 1925 into its present stark white classical appearance. The courthouse for this sparsely populated remote county is remarkable in its formality...These include the giant Doric columns with fillets and bases, a pediment forming a projecting portico, a modillioned cornice, and pedimented side dormers."
The courthouse still preserves its original appearance.
Sparsely-populated Keweenaw County was a mining center in the latter 19th century but in the 20th century turned into a resort community. Because of this trend, Keweenaw County is also the only county in Michigan to have a lower population in the year 2000 than in 1900.
Keith DeForge
(information as of January 2021)[16]