Kalkaska County ( ) is located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,939. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Kalkaska. Kalkaska County is part of the

Traverse City metropolitan area The Traverse City Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in Northern Michigan, anchored by the city of Traverse City. This area is commonly referred to as Northwestern ...

. Although it is located on Michigan's Lower Peninsula, Kalkaska County is considered part of

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...

History

Kalkaska County, originally named Wabassee County, was separated from

Michilimackinac County Mackinac County ( , ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,834. The county seat is St. Ignace. Formerly known as Michilimackinac County, in 1818 it was one of the firs ...

in 1840, renamed in 1843. In 1851, Kalkaska County was attached to

Grand Traverse County Grand Traverse County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,238, making it the largest county in Northern Michigan. Its county seat is Traverse City. The county is part of the Trav ...

for legal purposes. The first settler in Kalkaska County was William Copeland, from England, who purchased land in the northwest corner of the county in 1855. Kalkaska County was organized in its own right on January 27, 1871.

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford County, ...

was then temporarily attached to Kalkaska County for legal purposes.

Etymology

The county's name is a pseudo-Native American word coined by

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi ...

, a Michigan geographer and ethnologist. The name is thought to be a Chippewa word meaning flat or burned-over country. An alternative theory is that this is a

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

or neonym created by

, originally spelled Calcasca. Some theorists suggest this is word play. Schoolcraft's family name had been Calcraft, and the Ks may have been added to make the name appear more like a Native American word.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which (1.9%) are covered by water.

Kalkaska sand Kalkaska sand is the official state soil of the U.S. state of Michigan. Kalkaska sand was identified in 1927 and named after Kalkaska County located in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. This soil is a multi-layer soil composed of humus ...

, the

state soil State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s in the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

. Kalkaska County has over 80 lakes and of streams and rivers. Much of the county is marshland. County elevation ranges from to about . This makes it one of the more uneven counties in the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. The

Pere Marquette State Forest The Pere Marquette State Forest encompasses lands in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, United States, on the western side of the state. Counties within the Pere Marquette are: Leelanau, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Manistee, ...

covers much of the county. Glaciers shaped the area, creating a unique regional ecosystem. A large portion of the area is the Grayling outwash plain, a broad outwash plain including sandy ice-disintegration ridges, jack pine barrens, some white pine-red pine forest, and northern hardwood forest. Large lakes were created by glacial action.

Lakes

* Torch Lake *

Starvation Lake Starvation Lake is a recreational and fishing lake in Kalkaska County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is approximately long and has a maximum depth of . The lake is fed primarily from submerged springs with the remainder from direct ...

Lake Skegemog Lake Skegemog ( '), formerly known as Round Lake and Skegemog Lake, is a lake in Northern Michigan. The lake is part of the Elk River Chain of Lakes, itself part of the Lake Michigan watershed. Within the lake is the tripoint of Antrim, Grand T ...

* Bear Lake *

Manistee Lake Manistee Lake is a water body adjacent to the city of Manistee, Michigan. Its primary inlet, as well as its outlet, is the Manistee River, flowing to Lake Michigan. The tributary Little Manistee River enters the southeast end of the lake befor ...

* Grass Lake * Rainbow Lake *

Blue Lake Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally descr ...

Cub Lake A cub is the young of certain large predatory animals, such as big cats and bears. Cub or CUB may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' The Cub'', a 1915 American silent film * ''Cub'' (film), a 2014 film * '' C.U. Burn'', an Irish-langu ...

Twin Lake Twin Lake is an unincorporated community in Muskegon County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. Local government services are provided by Dalton Township, though the Twin Lake ZIP code ...

* Little Twin Lake * Pickerel Lake * Squaw Lake * Indian Lake * Perch Lake * Crawford Lake * Lost Lake * Johnson Rd Lake *

Log Lake Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathem ...

Selkirk Lake Selkirk may refer to: People * Alexander Selkirk, Scottish castaway who formed the basis for the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe * Selkirk (surname), surname origin, and list of people with the surname * Earl of Selkirk, a title in the Pee ...

Kettle Lake A kettle (also known as a kettle hole, kettlehole, or pothole) is a depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating ...

* Lake Placid * Sand Lake * Twenty Eight Lakes * East Lake * Long Lake * Lake Five * Wheeler Lake * Fife Lake

Rivers

Boardman River The Boardman River ( '), also known as the Ottaway River ( ') or the Boardman–Ottaway River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 21, 2011 river in the north ...

* Little Rapid River *

Manistee River The Manistee River ( ', seldom referred to as the Big Manistee River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 21, 2011 river in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. s ...

* Rapid River * Torch River

Major highways

* – runs NE through the western part of the county. Enters at north of SW corner; exits into Antrim County near midpoint of north county line. * – runs north–south through west-central part of county. Passes Kalkaska. * – runs east and ESE through middle portion of county. Passes Kalkaska.

Adjacent counties

* Antrim County – north * Otsego County – northeast *

– east * Roscommon County – southeast * Missaukee County – south * Wexford County – southwest *

– west

Communities

Village

* Kalkaska (county seat)

Civil townships

* Bear Lake Township * Blue Lake Township * Boardman Township * Clearwater Township * Coldsprings Township * Excelsior Township * Garfield Township * Kalkaska Township * Oliver Township * Orange Township * Rapid River Township * Springfield Township

Former townships

* Glade Township * Wilson Township

Census-designated places

* Bear Lake *

Rapid City Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

* South Boardman

Unincorporated communities

* Barker Creek * Crofton *

Darragh Darragh, also spelled Daragh and Dara, is a name of Irish origin. The name is derived from the Old Irish word (Modern Irish ), which means "oak". Darragh is frequently used in Ireland as a masculine forename, though sometimes occurs as a surnam ...

* Houseman * Leetsville * Lodi *

Sigma Sigma ( ; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator ...

* Spencer * Torch River

Demographics

At the 2010 United States census there were 16,571 people, 6,428 households, and 4,634 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 10,822 housing units at an average density of . By the 2020 census, its population was 17,939. In 2010, the racial makeup of the county was 98.44%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.21%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.78%

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

, 0.22% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.10% from other races, 0.86% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 24.6% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 12.4%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, 10.4% Irish, 10.0%

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, 6.3%

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and 5.1%

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

ancestry. 98.8% spoke English as their first language.

Government

Kalkaska County voters have been reliably Republican from the start. They have selected the Republican Party nominee in 86% of national elections (31 of 36). The county government operates the

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, records deeds, mortgages, and

vital records Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses (or marriage certificates), separation agreements, divorce certificates or divorce party and death certificates. In some j ...

, administers

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget and has 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.

Events

The National Trout Festival is an annual festival since 1936, held in April. It notes the heritage and sportsmanship of Kalkaska.

Education

The

Northwest Educational Services The Northwest Educational Services (formerly the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District) is a coordinating School District in Michigan, USA. It oversees the school districts in the counties of Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska ...

, based in

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...

, services the students in the county along with those of Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau. The

intermediate school district An intermediate school district, in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, state ...

offers regional

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

services, early education and English learner programs, and technical career pathways for students of its districts. Kalkaska County is served by the following regular

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

s: * Excelsior Township School District #1 * Forest Area Community Schools * Kalkaska Public Schools

References

External links

* {{Coord, 44.69, -85.08, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MI_source:UScensus1990 Michigan counties Traverse City metropolitan area 1871 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1871