Ontonagon County, Michigan

Founding: 1853 (declared in 1843)
Parent counties: Chippewa and Mackinac

Namesake: The Ontonagon River
Seat: Ontonagon (1853–)

Land area: 1,311 square miles

Population (2020): 5,816

Population (historic): 389 (1850); 2,845 (1870); 3,756 (1890); 8,650 (1910); 11,114 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1850s; 1880–1920; 1930s; 1950s

Subdivisions: One village; one CDP; 11 townships

National Register listings: Six

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,701 (30%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 55.5%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 12.7%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 18.9%
Average farmhouse value (1930): $816
Average outbuilding value (1930): $859
Number of farms (1920): 917
Average farm size (1920): 27.3 acres
Sources of settlement: Michigan, Finland, and Wisconsin
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Ontonagon

Namesake: The Ontonagon River

Founding: 1843 (platting); 1846 (post office); 1885 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 1,285

Population (historic): 1,267 (1900); 1,964 (1910); 1,406 (1920); 1,937 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1900–1910; 1920–1970
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 458 (47.1%)
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Outstanding Buildings

1. *Marsi Log House (c. 1900). South Road, south of Misery Bay Road. Bohemia.
2. *Ontonagon County Infirmary (1900). 18754 State Route 38. Ontonagon. Romanesque.