Lenawee County, Michigan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lenawee County
U.S. county
Lenawee County Courthouse in Adrian
Location within the U.S. state of Michigan
Michigan's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Michigan
Founded	1822 (created) September 10, 1826 (organized)
Seat	Adrian
Largest city	Adrian
Area
• Total	761 sq mi (1,970 km2)
• Land	750 sq mi (1,900 km2)
• Water	12 sq mi (30 km2)  1.6%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	99,423
• Estimate  (2023)	97,520
• Density	100/sq mi (50/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	5th

Lenawee County (pronounced LEN-ə-way) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. In 2020, about 99,423 people lived here. The main city and government center is Adrian. Lenawee County was first created in 1822 and officially organized in 1826. It was formed from parts of Monroe County.

Lenawee County is part of the Adrian, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area. This means it's a smaller city area connected to a larger one. It's also part of the Toledo media market, which means TV and radio from Toledo reach here. Many Native American tribes, like the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa, once lived in this area.

History of Lenawee County

The land that became Lenawee County was first claimed by several Native American nations. These included the Ottawa, Ojibwe (also called Chippewa), Wyandot, and Potawatomi tribes. In 1807, they signed the Treaty of Detroit. This agreement gave their traditional lands in what is now southeast Michigan to the United States.

However, many tribal leaders felt forced to sign this treaty. They didn't agree with it. So, they started working together to resist the United States. This group was led by Chief Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader. They wanted to fight alongside Great Britain to make the U.S. leave their lands. This was during the War of 1812 between the U.S. and Great Britain. Battles like the Battle of Tippecanoe and the Battle of Lake Erie happened nearby.

In 1813, the U.S. won the Battle of the Thames. This battle defeated both the British and their Native American allies. Chief Tecumseh died in this battle, and his group broke apart. The city of Tecumseh in Lenawee County is named after him. After this defeat, the tribal leaders agreed to a peace treaty called the Treaty of Ghent. This treaty ended the war with the Native American peoples. It also confirmed that the U.S. controlled the land from the Treaty of Detroit. This land included what would become Lenawee County.

The U.S. government continued to move Native American tribes from their lands. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. This law allowed the government to move Indigenous peoples from east of the Mississippi River to lands in the west. These western lands later became known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). This act affected tribes in the Midwest, including those in Michigan.

The Irish Hills Towers near Hayes State Park

Lenawee County was officially organized in 1826. It had been approved and described by the Michigan government in 1822. The land for the county was taken from Monroe County, Michigan.

What Does "Lenawee" Mean?

The name "Lenawee" was created by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. He was a U.S. agent who worked with Native American tribes in the area. Schoolcraft later became famous for studying different cultures. He was married to Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, who had both Ojibwe and Scottish family. Through her, he learned about the Ojibwe language and culture.

While working in Michigan, Schoolcraft named several new counties. He often made up new words for these names. "Lenawee" is thought to come from a Native American word. Experts believe it might come from the Lenape language word leno or lenno, meaning "male." Or, it could come from the Shawnee word lenawai.

Geography of Lenawee County

Lenawee County covers about 761 square miles. Most of this area, about 750 square miles, is land. The rest, about 12 square miles, is water. This means about 1.6% of the county is water. Lenawee County is located in the southeastern part of Michigan.

Neighboring Counties

Lenawee County shares borders with several other counties:

Main Roads and Highways

Several important roads run through Lenawee County:

In Lenawee County, roads that go north and south are often called "highways." Roads that go east and west are usually called "roads."

People of Lenawee County

In 2000, there were 98,890 people living in Lenawee County. There were about 35,930 households, which are groups of people living together. The population density was about 132 people for every square mile.

Most people in the county, about 92.5%, identified as White. About 2.1% were Black or African American, and 0.4% were Native American. About 6.9% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino. Many residents have German (30.4%), English (11.6%), American (10.2%), or Irish (9.9%) family backgrounds. Most people (94.7%) speak English at home, and 4.2% speak Spanish.

About 34.2% of households had children under 18 living with them. The average household had about 2.6 people. The average family had about 3.0 people.

The median age in the county was 36 years old. This means half the people were younger than 36, and half were older. About 25.9% of the population was under 18 years old.

Communities in Lenawee County

A map showing the cities and towns within Lenawee County. The shaded areas are cities.

Lenawee County has several different types of communities:

Cities

• Adrian (This is the county seat, where the main government offices are)
• Hudson
• Morenci
• Tecumseh

Villages

• Addison
• Blissfield
• Britton
• Cement City (part of it is in another county)
• Clayton
• Clinton
• Deerfield
• Onsted

Charter Townships

These are special types of townships with more local control:

• Adrian Charter Township
• Madison Charter Township
• Raisin Charter Township

Civil Townships

These are other local government areas:

Census-Designated Places

These are areas that are not officially cities or villages, but are recognized for census purposes:

• Jasper (This place was called Fairfield before 1874)
• Manitou Beach–Devils Lake

Other Unincorporated Communities

These are smaller places that are not officially part of a city or village: