Polished native copper nugget from Keweenaw County. Keweenaw County copper mines were important producers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[5]Haven Falls, on Haven Creek near Lac La Belle
The county was set off and organized in 1861.[6] It is believed "Keweenaw" is a corruption of an Ojibwe word that means "portage" or "place where portage is made";[6] compare the names of the nearby Portage Lake and Portage River which together make up the Keweenaw Waterway.[7]
Geography
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 5,966 square miles (15,450 km2), of which just 540 square miles (1,400 km2) is land and 5,426 square miles (14,050 km2) (91%) is water.[8] 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 1,438 acres (5.82 km2), located at the base of the county's two highest peaks: Mt. Horace Greeley at 1,550 feet (470 m) and Mt. Gratiot at 1,490 feet (450 m).[9] 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.
US 41 runs northeast–southwest through the upper center part of the mainland portion of the county. It enters the southern area of the county at Bumbletown passes Phoenix, Delaware, Mandan, Copper Harbor and terminates north of Lake Fanny Hooe.
M-26 loops from Phoenix to the shoreline of Lake Superior, then runs northeasterly along the shoreline to the intersection with US 41 at Copper Harbor.[10]
US Decennial Census[12] 1790-1960[13] 1900-1990[14] 1990-2000[15] 2010-2018[3]
The 2010 United States census indicated Keweenaw County had a population of 2,156.[16] 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 people per square mile (1.5 people/km2). There were 2,467 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (1.5/km2). At the 2020 census, its population was 2,046.[3]
Keweenaw County was solidly Republican after the American Civil War, and until the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era. In 1900,[19] 1904[20] and 1908[21] it stood as the nation's most Republican county. In his last election of 1944, Roosevelt became the first Democrat to win the county since Horatio Seymour in 1868.[22] However, from 1964 to 1996 Keweenaw voted Democratic in every election except 1972 and 1980, thus standing as one of only six counties nationwide[a] 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.
United States presidential election results for Keweenaw County, Michigan[23]
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:[24]
"Like a meetinghouse on a New England public square, and enclosed by a 3-foot [0.91 m] 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.
^National Association of Counties. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
^United States Census Bureau (August 22, 2012). "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
^United States Census Bureau. "US Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
^University of Virginia Library. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
