Tuscola County, Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tuscola County, Michigan | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Michigan |
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 Michigan's location in the U.S. |
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| Statistics | |
| Founded | April 1, 1840 [1] |
|---|---|
| Seat | Caro |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
914 sq mi (2,367 km²) 812 sq mi (2,103 km²) 101 sq mi (262 km²), 11.10% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
58,266 73/sq mi (28/km²) |
| Website: www.tuscolacounty.org | |
Tuscola County is a county in the Thumb region of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 58,266. The county seat is Caro[1]. The county was created by Michigan Law on April 1, 1840 and was fully organized on March 2, 1850.
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[edit] Geography
- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 914 square miles (2,367 km²), of which, 812 square miles (2,104 km²) of it is land and 101 square miles (263 km²) of it (11.10%) is water. As mentioned above, this is one of five counties that are in the Thumb area. Like the rest of the thumb, Tuscola County enjoys seasonal tourism from larger cities like Flint, Detroit and Saginaw.
- It is considered to be part of the Thumb of Michigan, which in turn is a subregion of the Flint/Tri-Cities.
- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw is the controlling regional body for the Catholic Church.[2]
[edit] History
- The name Tuscola was a Neologism created by Henry Schoolcraft. One scholar believes it to be a combination of "dusinagon" (level) and "cola" (lands).
The Chippewa/Ottawa word "dusinagon", or "tessinagan", actually, means flat dish or plate. The Thumb of Michigan, which includes Tuscola, Huron, and Sanilac Counties, was in the 1600's called Skenchioe, which seems to be related to the Onondaga, or Iroquois, word "uschwuntschios", which means plain and flat. The root may be the Latin word "scindo", or "scandula", which means to split something into a flat piece or to make a shingle. The French in the early 1700's called the Thumb of Michigan Les Pays Plat, which means The Country Flat. This name was continued by the English in the late 1700's in the name Flat Country. The name Tuscola undoubtedly means the plateau, tableland, or flat country with the cultivated land [and perhaps the hill]. The Chippewa/Ottawa word "tusci", or "tessi-aki", means a rised flat land, a plateau, or tableland. "Tessi-aki" may have been used by the Algonquin speaking people to mean the entire Thumb of Michigan. "Tessi" means a shelf or rised platform while "aki" means ground. The suffix of Tuscola, "cola", seems to be Latin. The Latin word "cola" means seat [or tail], farm, colony, or cultivate land. "Colline" means a bank or small hill. During the Saginaw Treaty of 1819, the chief of Tuscola was Chief Otusson. His name has the same root as Tuscola and was said to mean "the bench in the lodge", the scaffold, or the platform. The Thumb of Michigan forms a tableland, or plateau, with knolls or hillocks, which are located in the interior along the Cass River. The county seat of Tuscola is Caro, which was known by Native People as the High Banks. The surrounding land particularly to the north and east is cultivated. The area around Caro was called the Indianfields.
[The Chippewa/Ottawa word "tashkigaige" means I split wood. Tuscola seems to mean flat like a shingle. When they ate on a plate, one might say they ate on a shingle.]
The Thumb of Michigan was at one time the lumber capital of the world base on splitting white pine wood. To the Algonquin, Iroquois, and European the pine tree was the tree of the shingle or split wood. The Chippewa/Ottawa word "jingwak" or "zhngwak" meant the splitting wood the pine wood.
[3] See List of Michigan county name etymologies.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Huron County (north)
- Sanilac County (east)
- Saginaw County (west)
- Lapeer County (southeast)
- Genesee County (southwest)
- Bay County (northwest)
[edit] Major highways
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 58,266 people, 21,454 households, and 15,983 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile (28/km²). There were 23,378 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.05% White, 1.07% Black or African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.72% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races. 2.30% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.3% were of German, 9.8% English, 8.4% Polish, 8.2% American, 7.5% Irish and 5.9% French ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.4% spoke English, 1.3% Spanish and 1.3% German as their first language.
There were 21,454 households out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.50% were non-families. 21.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,174, and the median income for a family was $46,729. Males had a median income of $35,974 versus $24,241 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,985. About 5.40% of families and 8.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.40% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Tuscola County elected officials
- Prosecuting Attorney: Mark E. Reene
- Sheriff: Tom Kern
- County Clerk: Margie White-Cormier
- County Treasurer: Patricia Donovan
- Register of Deeds: Ginny McLaren
- Drain Commissioner: Sarah Pistro
- Circuit Court Judge: Hon. Patrick Reed Joslyn
- Probate Court Judge: Hon. W. Wallace Kent, Jr.
- District Court Judge: Hon. Kim David Glaspie
(information as of May 16, 2006)
[edit] Cities, villages, and townships
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Find a County. National Association of Counties. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Saginaw County Diocese home page,
- ^ Michigan government on origin of county names
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] Bibliography and further reading
[edit] External links
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