These Are The Youngest and Oldest Counties Of Michigan

Last week, I was researching Halloween activities happening around the state and stumbled upon a city-wide game of Hide and Seek taking place in Iron Mountain. The Dickinson County Sheriff's Office is allowing teens to hide from them around the Fairgrounds in a unique activity.

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But it was a line mentioned on the Dickinson County website that really piqued my interest.

"Dickinson County looks to the future of the state and of our country as the youngest of 83 Michigan counties.."

Firstly, wow, Michigan is pretty big. Secondly, if this little county in the Upper Peninsula is the youngest in the state, just how young is it, and what county is the oldest?

A Brief History of Michigan

According to the State of Michigan, Michigan was already being divided before it even became a state. The first county of Michigan was technically Wayne County when the state was still part of the Northwest Territory in 1787. 

Then, Michigan was made into the Indiana Territory in 1800. Michigan became a separate territory in 1805, and it was admitted as an official state in 1837. Detroit was designated as its first capital, as it was where most of the population resided.

With this in mind, expansion through Michigan was south to north, so it makes sense that one of the last counties to be created in the state would be about as far away from Detroit as possible. This title belongs to Dickinson County, located in Iron Mountain, on the western end of the Upper Peninsula.

READ MORE: Okay, But WHY Is The Upper Peninsula Part Of Michigan?

Dickinson County was established over 100 years after Wayne County. Situated between the counties of Marquette, Iron, and Menominee, the county was formed from parts of each of these counties in 1891 by Act 81 of the Laws of 1891.

However, it did not go without controversy; the Auditor General sued the Board of Supervisors of Menominee County in an attempt to stop the creation of Dickinson County.

The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the creation of the county, making it the 83rd county of Michigan. For those curious, Kent County was established in 1831 from Kalamazoo County.