Kalkaska County, Michigan

Kalkaska County is a in the  of. It is part of the. As of the, the population was 16,571. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,478 (571 ). 1,453 km² (561 sq mi) of it is land and 25 km² (10 sq mi) of it (1.71%) is water.

Kalkaska County has over 80 lakes and 275 miles of streams and rivers. and are located in the county with many others. The largest rivers include the,, and.

, the of, was named after the county because of the large amounts deposited in the area from the  in the.

Major highways

 * [[Image:US 131.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:M-66.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:M-72.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 16,571 people, 6,428 households, and 4,634 families residing in the county. The was 11/km² (30/sq mi). There were 10,822 housing units at an average density of 7/km² (19/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.54%, 0.21% or , 0.78% , 0.22% , 0.05% , 0.10% from , and 1.10% from two or more races. 0.86% of the population were or  of any race. 98.8% spoke as their first language.

There were 6,428 households out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.90% were non-families. 22.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 101.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,072, and the median income for a family was $39,932. Males had a median income of $31,860 versus $20,455 for females. The for the county was $16,309. About 8.20% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the, including 14.20% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.

History
The first settler in Kalkaska County was an Englishman named William Copeland, who purchased land in the northwest corner of the county in 1855. The county was originally called Wabasee. The name Kalkaska is thought to be a word meaning flat or burned-over country. Logging was the first important industry.

The discovery of substantial deposits of oil and natural gas resulted in the construction of a processing plant by in 1973 and a major economic boom in the community.

Government
The county government operates the, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains, administers regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions &mdash; police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. &mdash; are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Kalkaska County elected officials

 * : Brian Donnelly
 * : William Artress
 * : Patricia Rodgers
 * : Gwen Gehrcke
 * : Joan Hall
 * : Francis Kelly

(information as of September 2005)

Cities, villages, and townships

 * , village
 * , village
 * , village
 * , village
 * , village
 * , village
 * , village
 * , village
 * , village