Mackinac County, Michigan

Mackinac County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 11,943. The is. The county was formerly known as Michilimackinac County, and it was created as one of the first counties of the in 1818.

History
Michilimackinac county was created by a proclamation of territorial governor on,. The county originally took up the of Michigan north of  and almost the entire present. At the time of founding, the county seat was the community of Michilimackinac Island on Michilimackinac Island, later known as. In 1882 the county seat was moved to St. Ignace.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,101 s (5,440 ), of which, 1,022 square miles (2,646 km²) of it is land and 1,079 square miles (2,794 km²) of it (51.37%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 11,943 people, 5,067 households, and 3,410 families residing in the county. The was 12 persons per square mile (5/km²). There were 9,413 housing units at an average density of 9/sq mi (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 80.07%, 0.20% or , 14.21% , 0.31% , 0.02% , 0.28% from , and 4.92% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were or  of any race. 18.7% were of, 9.4% , 8.1% , 7.3% , 6.0% and 6.0%  ancestry according to. 97.6% spoke as their first language.

There were 5,067 households out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.70% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.20% under the age of 18, 6.00% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 28.40% from 45 to 64, and 18.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 99.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,356, and the median income for a family was $39,929. Males had a median income of $30,805 versus $22,753 for females. The for the county was $17,777. About 7.20% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the, including 13.70% of those under age 18 and 8.40% of those age 65 or over.

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.

Mackinac County elected officials

 * : W. Clayton Graham
 * : Scott Strait
 * : Mary Kay Tamlyn
 * : Jane E. Hampton
 * : Diane Frankovich
 * : Jeffrey M. Davis

(information as of September 2005)

Attractions

 * es