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Montmorency County, Michigan

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Map of Michigan highlighting Montmorency County
Location in the state of Michigan Map of the U.S. highlighting Michigan
Michigan's location in the U.S. Founded 1881[1] Seat Atlanta Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
562.44 sq mi (1,457 km²)
547.63 sq mi (1,418 km²)
14.81 sq mi (38 km²), 2.63% Population
 - (2000)
 - Density
10,315
18/sq mi (7/km²) Website www.montmorencycountymichigan.us

Montmorency County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 10,315. The county seat is Atlanta.[2] In 1840, it was first named "Cheonoquet" after a well known Chippewa (also known as Ojibwa) Chief, whose name meant Big Cloud.[3] Cheonoquet took part in Indian treaties in 1807, 1815, 1825 and 1837.[4][5] In 1843, the county was renamed for the Count Morenci, who aided the colonies in the war with England. The county was organized in 1881.[1] The reason for the change in spelling is subject to some dispute.[5] See List of Michigan county name etymologies. The name Montmorency probably means Mountain Moor. Montmorency is very much a boggy land or moor that is at the top of a broad mount or highland. When the county was formed in 1881, some land area was taken from Cheboygan and Alpena counties. Three townships were divided, namely Briley, Montmorency and Rust. By 1901 Albert, Hillman and Wheatfield were added. Brush Creek, now known as Hillman, was the first county seat. In 1891 the county seat was moved to Atlanta.[6]

Montmorency County is home to Michigan's most endangered species and one of the most endangered species in the world: the Hungerford's crawling water beetle. The species lives in only five locations in the world, two of which are in Montmorency County, both inside the Mackinaw State Forest. The first site is along the East Branch of the Black River where two adult beetles were found in surveys in 1989 and two more again in 1996. In July 1999, six additional adult beetles were identified in the county living in Van Hetton Creek. This latter find was significant as it represented a new location beyond those originally identified when the Hungerford's crawling water beetle was categorized as endangered on March 7, 1994, under the provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The Van Hetton Creek sighting therefore provides the possibility that more of these very rare beetles might be found elsewhere in Montmorency County.

Contents

Geography

  • According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 562.44 square miles (1,456.7 km2), of which 547.63 square miles (1,418.4 km2) (or 97.37%) is land and 14.81 square miles (38.4 km2) (or 2.63%) is water.[7]

Most of the county is covered by state forest land. There is and has been an abundance of lakes. Glaciers shaped the area, creating a unique regional ecosystem. A large portion of the area is the so-called Grayling outwash plain, which consists of broad outwash plain including sandy ice-disintegration ridges; jack pine barrens, some white pine-red pine forest, and northern hardwood forest. Large lakes were created by glacial action.[8] The county is considered to be part of Northern Michigan.

Adjacent counties