Antrim County, Michigan

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Antrim County (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,431.<ref name=QF>Template:Cite web</ref> The county seat is Bellaire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The name is taken from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Antrim County is home to Torch Lake, Michigan's deepest and second-largest inland lake. Torch Lake, famous for its clear and blue waters,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is part of the Chain of Lakes Watershed, most of which lies within Antrim County. The county is bordered to the west by Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.

History

File:1842 Leelenaw Omeena Negissee Wabbassee Okkuddo Shawwano counties Michigan.jpg

A detail from A New Map of Michigan with its Canals, Roads & Distances (1842) by Henry Schenck Tanner, showing Antrim County during the period when it was named Meegisee County, its name from 1840 to 1843.<ref name=NB/> The name is misspelled as "Negissee" on the map. Several nearby counties are also shown with names that would later be changed.

File:Elk River Chain of Lakes Map US MI.svg

Map of the Chain of Lakes, the watershed of which dominates much of western Antrim County.

Template:See also Meegisee County (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) was separated from Michilimackinac County as an unorganized county in 1840.<ref name="NB">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It took its name from a Chippewa chief who signed the 1821 Treaty of Chicago and the 1826 Treaty of Mississinewas. Meegisee also derives from the Ojibwe Template:Lang, meaning bald eagle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county was renamed Antrim County in 1843,<ref name="NB" /> one of the Irish names given to five renamed Michigan counties at that time, supposedly in deference to the increasing number of settlers of Irish heritage in Michigan at that time. In the text of the 1843 legislative act, the name was misspelled as "Antim".<ref name="clarke">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1851, for governmental purposes, Antrim County was attached to Grand Traverse County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Separate county government was organized in 1863.<ref name=clarke/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county seat was originally located in Elk Rapids, but was moved to Bellaire in 1904 after 25 years of litigation.<ref>Historic marker in front of Bellaire courthouse</ref> In 1950 its population was 10,721.<ref>Columbia Lippincott Gazetter, 1952, p. 80</ref>

YMCA Camp Hayo-Went-Ha, the oldest American summer camp that sits on its original site, was opened on the shore of Torch Lake in Central Lake Township in 1904.

Antrim County, which has reliably elected Republicans, was in national headlines during the 2020 presidential election because the unofficial tally showed Biden surprisingly ahead on election night. When the County Clerk realized that it was caused by human error, she corrected the tally before submitting to the Secretary of State for certification. Nonetheless, this error and a related lawsuit have been cited in multiple election conspiracies.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (21%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Antrim County is flanked to the west by Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan. Most of the bodies of water within the Chain of Lakes, including Torch Lake, are within Antrim County.

Lakes

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Lake Arthur
Bass Lake
Bates Lake
Beals Lake
Lake Bellaire
Benway Lake
Birch Lake
Boat Lake
Browning Lake
Carpenter Lake
Clam Lake
Eaton Lake
Elk Lake
Ellsworth Lake
Finn Lake
Grass Lake
Green Lake
Hanley Lake
Harwood Lake
Hawk Lake
Henry Lake
Intermediate Lake
Lake of the Woods
Lime Lake
Little Torch Lake
Lyman Lake
Maplehurst Lake
Moblo Lake
Mud Lake
Scotts Lake
Six Mile Lake
Lake Skegemog
Skinner Lake
Smith Lake
St. Clair Lake
Thayer Lake
Toad Lake
Torch Lake
Wetzel Lake
Wilson Lake Template:Div col end

Rivers

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Adjacent counties

By land

Charlevoix County (north)
Otsego County (east)
Crawford County (southeast)
Kalkaska County (south)
Grand Traverse County (southwest)

By water

Leelanau County (west)

Communities

File:Antrim County, MI census map.png

U.S. Census data map showing local municipal boundaries within Antrim County. The small red sections denote territory of the Grand Traverse Indian Reservation.

Villages

Civil townships

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Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

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Ghost towns

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Indian reservations

Grand Traverse Indian Reservation, which has territories in five counties, occupies two small sections within Helena Township and one section in Milton Township.

Demographics

Template:US Census population

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 23,580 people, 9,890 households, and 6,925 families in the county. By 2020, its population was 23,431.

Government

Antrim County operates the County 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.

Elected officials

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Prosecuting Attorney: Wilson Brott
Sheriff: Kevin S. Hoch
County Clerk: Victoria Bishop
County Treasurer: Sherry A. Comben
Register of Deeds: Patty Niepoth
Drain Commissioner: Leslie Meyers
County Surveyor: Scott Papineau

Template:Div col end (information as of March 2025)<ref>Antrim County website - Directory</ref>

Education

The Northwest Educational Services, based in Traverse City, services the students in the county along with those of Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Kalkaska. The intermediate school district offers regional special education services, early education and English learner programs, and technical career pathways for students of its districts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Antrim County is served by the following regular public school districts:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

Antrim County has the one private school, the Ebenezer Christian School (Christian).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Transportation

File:Torch Lake Antrim County (July 2019).jpg

View of Torch Lake.

File:M-88 Intermediate River Bridge.jpg

M-88 bridge over the Intermediate River in Bellaire.

State-maintained highways

Template:Jct is a north–south highway that runs along the shore of Grand Traverse Bay in western Antrim County, passing through the communities of Elk Rapids, Torch Lake, Eastport, and Atwood. South of Antrim County, US 31 enters Traverse City, and continues further south along the Lake Michigan, passing cities such as Manistee, Ludington, Muskegon, Grand Haven, Holland, and Benton Harbor. North of Antrim County, US 31 passes through Charlevoix and Petoskey before terminating at Interstate 75 south of Mackinaw City.
Template:Jct in Antrim County follows a largely southwest–northeast route in the pastoral east of the county, passing through the communities of Mancelona and Alba. Following a north–south route further inland than US 31, the highway passes through cities to the south such as Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Cadillac. North of Antrim County, the highway terminates at US 31 in Petoskey.
Template:Jct is an east–west highway in northeastern Antrim County. The highway begins at East Jordan, just north of the Antrim County line, and continues east toward Elmira, Gaylord, Atlanta, Hillman, and Alpena. In Antrim County, M-32 shares a brief concurrency with US 131.
Template:Jct is a north–south highway that runs through central Antrim County. The highway enters from the south via a concurrency with US 131. At Mancelona, M-66 takes on an independent route, running north to East Jordan before terminating at US 31 at Charlevoix. South of Antrim County, M-66 runs through communities such as Sturgis, Battle Creek, Ionia, Lake City, and Kalkaska.
Template:Jct is an s-shaped highway, signed as an east–west route, that runs entirely within Antrim County. The highway serves to connect Antrim County's interior villages, Bellaire and Central Lake, with US 31 at Eastport and US 131/M-66 at Mancelona.

File:Elk Rapids, Michigan (July 2019).jpg

Downtown Elk Rapids.

County-designated highways

Template:Jct serves as an easterly extension of M-88. The highway begins at US 131/M-66 in Mancelona, and continues east to Otsego County.
Template:Jct serves as a cutoff between US 131 at Alba and M-32 west of Gaylord in Otsego County.
Template:Jct is an east–west route in northwest Antrim County, connecting US 31 near Atwood to the village of Ellsworth and M-66 at East Jordan.
Template:Jct is a north–south route in northern Antrim County, connecting Ellsworth to US 31 in Charlevoix County.
Template:Jct is a short route in northeastern Antrim County, serving as a direct route between M-32 and M-75 near Boyne City.