Lapeer County, Michigan

Lapeer County Education, Geography, and History

Lapeer County is a county located in the state of Michigan. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 88,319. The county seat is Lapeer. The county was created on September 18, 1822, and was fully organized on February 2, 1835. The name is a corruption of the French la pierre, which means "the flint."

Lapeer County is included in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Lapeer County Name

Lapeer County is said to be an Americanization of the French la pierre meaning flint.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Lapeer County History

Lapeer County is said to be an Americanization of the French la pierre meaning flint.

Set Off: 1822

Organized: 1833

The county was created on September 18, 1822, and was fully organized on February 2, 1835.

Lapeer County was part of New France from 1534, and as New France gained in population, part of the Pays d'en Haut (upper countries) dependency of the Colony of Canada from its formation as a department of New France in 1712. In 1763 England took possession, then renamed the colony and its dependencies the Province of Quebec. France and England controlled trading by establishing forts to settle disputes and enforce laws, utilizing ancient overland and waterborne trade routes, while providing superior tools and weapons in exchange for valuable furs

Following the American Revolution, Great Britain ceded portions of the Province of Quebec to the United States of America. By an ordinance of the Congress of the United States passed in July 13, 1787, under the Articles of Confederation, the whole of the territory of the United States lying northwest of the Ohio River, though still occupied by the British, was organized as the Northwest Territory. The area that is now Lapeer County used to be a part of the County of Wayne, named in the honor of General Anthony Wayne. This original Wayne County was created on August 11, 1796, and included all of the lower peninsula of Michigan, parts of Northern Ohio and Indiana, and also portions of Wisconsin and Illinois.

What is now Lapeer County, on May 7, 1800, became part of the Territory of Indiana, which included all of the lower peninsula of Michigan. After Ohio and Indiana became states, the Territory of Michigan was formed. In 1807 local Indian tribes ceded the land of Southeast Michigan in the Treaty of Detroit. In January, 1820, the County of Oakland was formed. On September 18, 1822, Governor Lewis Cass set Lapeer County's boundaries, although it remained a part of Oakland County until it was organized; Lapeer County officially became a county on February 2, 1835. The first recorded elections for county officers, with 520 people voting, occurred in 1837.

The first settler in Lapeer was Alvin N. Hart, who was born in Cornwall, Connecticut on February 11, 1804. He came to Lapeer in 1831 and platted the Village of Lapeer on November 8, 1833. The plat was registered in Pontiac, December 14, 1833, in Oakland County's Associate Judge Bagley's Court. Alvin Hart became a state senator in 1843, representing Lapeer, Oakland, Genesee, Shiawassee, Tuscola, Saginaw counties and the entire Upper Peninsula. He was instrumental in having the state capitol moved from Detroit to Lansing.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 663 square miles (1,720 km²), of which 643 square miles (1,670 km²) is land and 20 square miles (52 km²) (3.0%) is water. Lapeer County's geography is very similar to Oakland County, except Lapeer County is more rural. Lapeer is one of the five counties that form the peninsula projecting into Lake Huron known as The Thumb, which in turn is a sub-region of the Flint/Tri-Cities.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Sanilac County (northeast)
• Tuscola County (northwest)
• St. Clair County (east)
• Genesee County (west)
• Macomb County (southeast)
• Oakland County (southwest)

Education

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