Ontonagon County, Michigan

Founding: 1848 (declared in 1843)
Parent counties: Chippewa and Mackinac

Namesake: The Ontonagon River
Seat: Ontonagon (1848–)

Land area: 1,311 square miles

Population (2010): 6,780

Population (historic): 389 (1850); 2,565 (1880); 6,197 (1900); 11,114 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1850s; 1880–1920

Subdivisions: One village; one CDP; 11 townships

National Register listings: Five

Income (per capita): $22,195

Income (median household): $34,786
Business establishments: 170 (39.9 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 1,784 (31.6%)
Vacant houses: 2,449 (43.3%)
Sources of settlement: Michigan, Finland, Canada, and Wisconsin

Ontonagon

Namesake: The Ontonagon River

Founding: 1846 (platting); 1846 (post office)

Population (2010): 1,494

Population (historic): 1,267 (1900); 1,937 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1900–1910; 1920–1940
Typology: Grid

First Courthouse

Location: Ontonagon

Construction: 1865

Years of service: 1865–1884

Typology: Side-gabled; brick; one-story

Style: None

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Six-bay facade; repeating door–window units; rectangular lintels and sills; paired four-over-four windows; operable shutters.

For a photo, see this page.

Second Courthouse

Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Location: 601 Trap Street (Ontonagon)

Construction: 1884–1886 / 1896

Years of service: 1886–1979

Typology: Irregular (late Victorian); brick; two-story

Style: Romanesque

Architects: Charlton, Gilbert, and Demar

Cost: Unknown

Status: Extant (used as a residence)

Features of note: Off-center dome; parapeted gable; three-bay facade; corbelled cornice; projecting central bay with finials; oriel window; arcaded entrance with bundled columns.

Third Courthouse

Location: 725 Greenland Road (Ontonagon)

Construction: 1979

Years of service: 1979–

Typology: Irregular (modern); brick; two-story

Style: None

Architects: C.E. Thorsen

Cost: Unknown

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: None.

Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau.