Mason County, Michigan Totally Explained

Everything about Mason County Michigan totally explained

Mason County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 28,274. The county seat is Ludington.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,242 square miles (3,216 km²), of which, 495 square miles (1,282 km²) of it's land and 747 square miles (1,934 km²) of it (60.13%) is water.

Major Highways

US highways

US-10
US-31
US Bus. 31 serves Ludington.

Michigan Highways

M-116

Adjacent counties

Manistee (north)

Lake (east)

Newaygo (southeast)

Oceana (south)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,274 people, 11,406 households, and 7,881 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 people per square mile (22/km²). There were 16,063 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.84% White, 0.73% Black or African American, 0.78% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.82% from other races, and 1.53% from two or more races. 3.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 24.5% were of German, 10.4% Polish, 8.8% English, 8.5% Irish, 7.7% American and 5.0% Swedish ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.0% spoke English and 2.2% Spanish as their first language.
   There were 11,406 households out of which 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.40% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.92.
   In the county the population was spread out with 24.20% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males.
   The median income for a household in the county was $34,704, and the median income for a family was $41,654. Males had a median income of $33,873 versus $22,616 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,713. About 8.20% of families and 11.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.50% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget but has only 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.

Mason County elected officials

Prosecuting Attorney: Susan Kasley

Sheriff: Laude Hartrum III

County Clerk: Jim Riffle

County Treasurer: Timothy D. Hansen

Drain Commissioner: David A. Hasenbank

County Surveyor: Kenneth L. Ross

County Board of Commissioners by district:

District 1: Neil Russell
District 2: Michael Schneider
District 3: Bob Erickson
District 4: Jim Pinkerton
District 5: Jerome Rybicki
District 6: Tom Posma (Chair)
District 7: Ron Pedersen
District 8: Ron Sanders
District 9: Jeffrey LaPlante
District 10: Dr. Lewis Squires

(information as of September 2005)

Cities, villages, and townships

Custer, village

Fountain, village

Free Soil, village

Ludington, city

Pere Marquette Charter Township

Scottville, city

Victory Township

Bibliography and further reading

Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography on Mason County

Further Information

Get more info on 'Mason County Michigan'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://mason_county__michigan.totallyexplained.com">Mason County, Michigan Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.