# Otsego County, Michigan

Otsego County (/ɒtˈsiːɡoʊ/ ot-SEE-goh), formerly known as Okkuddo County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,091. The county seat is Gaylord. The county was founded in 1840 and organized in 1875.

## Etymology

Otsego may be a Native American name meaning "place of the rock". However, an alternative theory is that it derives from a lake and a county in New York state, which are said to bear the name derived from a Mohawk Iroquoian word meaning either "clear water" or "meeting place." It may be a neologism coined by Henry Schoolcraft, who was a borrower of words and pieces of words from many languages (including Arabic, Greek, Latin, and various American Indian languages). See List of Michigan county name etymologies.

## History

The county was created in 1840 as Okkuddo County (meaning "sickly water," although the reason for using a name with such a negative meaning is lost). The name was changed to Otsego in 1843 after the county in New York, with the name ultimately deriving from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." It was organized in 1875. On May 20, 2022, an EF3 tornado struck the county seat of Gaylord killing 2 and injuring 44 while causing major damage to the downtown business district and severely damaging a mobile home park.

## Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 526 square miles (1,360 km$^2$), of which 515 square miles (1,330 km$^2$) is land and 11 square miles (28 km$^2$) (2.1%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county by total area in Michigan. Although it is located on Michigan's Lower Peninsula, Otsego County is considered to be part of Northern Michigan.
Otsego County has more than 370 lakes, mostly in the southern part of the county. Otsego Lake is the county's largest and has a surface area of 1,972 acres (7.98 km$^2$). Other large lakes in the southern part of the county include Big Lake, Big Bear Lake, Buhl Lake, Crapo Lake, Dixon Lake, Douglas Lake, Guthrie Lake, Heart Lake, Lake Tecon, Manuka Lake, Opal Lake, Pencil Lake, and Turtle Lake. The larger lakes in the northern part of the county are Five Lakes, Hardwood Lake, Lake Twenty Seven, and Pickerel Lake. Many of these are so-called 'kettle lakes,' formed by the melting of blocks of glacial ice, left as the glacier retreated, which created a depression in the soil.
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.
Headwaters of the Au Sable, Black, Manistee, Pigeon, and Sturgeon Rivers are in Otsego County. The Au Sable River watershed is the county's largest watershed.

### Adjacent counties

* Cheboygan County - north
* Montmorency County - east
* Oscoda County - southeast
* Crawford County - south
* Kalkaska County - southwest
* Antrim County - west
* Charlevoix County - northwest

## Demographics

As of the 2000 United States census, there were 23,301 people, 8,995 households, and 6,539 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile (17 people/km$^2$). There were 13,375 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile (10/km$^2$). As of 2020, its population grew to 25,091.
In 2000, the racial makeup of the county was 97.51% White, 0.18% Black or African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. 0.75% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.1% were of German, 17.6% Polish, 10.5% Irish, 9.9% English and 9.4% American ancestry. 96.8% spoke English and 1.3% Polish as their first language.
There were 8,995 households, out of which 34.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.40% were married couples living together, 8.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 22.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.00.
The county population contained 26.80% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.70 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $40,876, and the median income for a family was $46,628. Males had a median income of $34,413 versus $21,204 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,810. About 5.30% of families and 6.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.50% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over.

## Government

Otsego County voters have been reliably Republican from the start. They have selected the Republican Party nominee in 89% of national elections (32 of 36) since 1884.

### Political Culture

United States presidential election results for Otsego County, Michigan :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 10,693 | 66.84% | 5,052 | 31.58% | 254 | 1.59% |
| 2020 | 9,779 | 66.19% | 4,743 | 32.10% | 253 | 1.71% |
| 2016 | 8,266 | 65.55% | 3,556 | 28.20% | 788 | 6.25% |
| 2012 | 7,011 | 58.96% | 4,681 | 39.37% | 199 | 1.67% |
| 2008 | 6,752 | 53.39% | 5,634 | 44.55% | 261 | 2.06% |
| 2004 | 7,470 | 60.70% | 4,674 | 37.98% | 163 | 1.32% |
| 2000 | 6,108 | 58.14% | 4,034 | 38.40% | 363 | 3.46% |
| 1996 | 3,638 | 43.73% | 3,351 | 40.28% | 1,331 | 16.00% |
| 1992 | 3,393 | 36.85% | 3,129 | 33.99% | 2,685 | 29.16% |
| 1988 | 4,620 | 63.31% | 2,635 | 36.11% | 43 | 0.59% |
| 1984 | 4,639 | 68.27% | 2,117 | 31.16% | 39 | 0.57% |
| 1980 | 3,771 | 53.70% | 2,666 | 37.96% | 586 | 8.34% |
| 1976 | 3,155 | 53.01% | 2,724 | 45.77% | 73 | 1.23% |
| 1972 | 2,854 | 58.93% | 1,912 | 39.48% | 77 | 1.59% |
| 1968 | 1,871 | 49.33% | 1,661 | 43.79% | 261 | 6.88% |
| 1964 | 1,214 | 35.07% | 2,245 | 64.85% | 3 | 0.09% |
| 1960 | 1,944 | 56.04% | 1,521 | 43.85% | 4 | 0.12% |
| 1956 | 1,930 | 63.74% | 1,095 | 36.16% | 3 | 0.10% |
| 1952 | 1,941 | 68.88% | 865 | 30.70% | 12 | 0.43% |
| 1948 | 1,392 | 60.00% | 888 | 38.28% | 40 | 1.72% |
| 1944 | 1,259 | 57.70% | 912 | 41.80% | 11 | 0.50% |
| 1940 | 1,353 | 54.56% | 1,119 | 45.12% | 8 | 0.32% |
| 1936 | 1,102 | 45.03% | 1,280 | 52.31% | 65 | 2.66% |
| 1932 | 1,006 | 40.35% | 1,377 | 55.23% | 110 | 4.41% |
| 1928 | 1,049 | 68.52% | 476 | 31.09% | 6 | 0.39% |
| 1924 | 1,144 | 73.81% | 249 | 16.06% | 157 | 10.13% |
| 1920 | 874 | 64.03% | 466 | 34.14% | 25 | 1.83% |
| 1916 | 531 | 49.17% | 519 | 48.06% | 30 | 2.78% |
| 1912 | 448 | 42.79% | 194 | 18.53% | 405 | 38.68% |
| 1908 | 864 | 72.48% | 276 | 23.15% | 52 | 4.36% |
| 1904 | 1,239 | 78.82% | 266 | 16.92% | 67 | 4.26% |
| 1900 | 1,020 | 67.95% | 436 | 29.05% | 45 | 3.00% |
| 1896 | 859 | 59.41% | 560 | 38.73% | 27 | 1.87% |
| 1892 | 525 | 47.60% | 531 | 48.14% | 47 | 4.26% |
| 1888 | 573 | 52.81% | 434 | 40.00% | 78 | 7.19% |
| 1884 | 485 | 52.95% | 410 | 44.76% | 21 | 2.29% |
The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, records deeds, mortgages, and vital records, administers public health 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.

### Elected officials

* Prosecuting Attorney: Michael A. Rola
* Sheriff: Matthew Nowicki
* County Clerk/Register of Deeds: Susan I. DeFeyter
* County Treasurer: Paula Wright
* County Surveyor: Ronald C. Brand
(information as of September 2005)

## Media

The Gaylord Herald Times is the newspaper of record for Otsego County. It is published twice weekly, and is the oldest surviving business. It was founded in 1875, the year that the county was organized.

## Communities
### City

* Gaylord (county seat)

### Village

* Vanderbilt

### Civil townships

* Bagley Township
* Charlton Township
* Chester Township
* Corwith Township
* Dover Township
* Elmira Township
* Hayes Township
* Livingston Township
* Otsego Lake Township

### Unincorporated communities

* Arbutus Beach
* Elmira (partial)
* Eyedylwild Beach
* Farrar Landing
* Green Timbers
* Hetherton (partial)
* Johannesburg
* Lower Chub Landing
* Oak Grove
* Otsego Lake
* Pearll City
* Sparr
* Vienna Corners (partial)
* Waters
* Whites Landing

## Transportation
### State-maintained highways

* I-75 is a north–south freeway the runs through central Otsego County, bypassing Gaylord to the west. The route serves as Michigan's major north–south thoroughfare, cities such as Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw with Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
** BL I-75 is a loop route serving businesses and tourists in the city of Gaylord. It shares a short concurrency with M-32.
* M-32 is an east–west route, running across much of the width of the northern Lower Peninsula. Including Gaylord, the highway serves communities such as East Jordan, Elmira, Johannesburg, Atlanta, Hillman, and Alpena.
* US 27 is a former highway that was removed from Otsego County in 1961. The route has since been supplanted by I-75, and is today referred to as "Old 27".

### County-designated highways

* C-38 is an east–west route that connects the community of Otsego Lake to US Highway 131 (US 131) at Mancelona.
* C-42 is an east–west route serving as a cutoff between M-32 near Gaylord and US 131 at Alba.
* C-48 is an east–west route in northwest Otsego County, connecting Boyne Falls and eastern Charlevoix County to Old US 27 and Vanderbilt.
* F-01 is a north–south route running along the Otsego–Montmorency county line.
* F-38 is an east–west route serving southeastern Otsego County and the Montmorency County community of Lewiston.
* F-42 serves as a southern bypass of Gaylord, running parallel to M-32.
* F-44 parallels M-32 to the north, east of Gaylord.
* F-97 is a north–south route that serves southern Otsego County, and extends south into Crawford, Roscommon, and Gladwin counties.

### Airport

Gaylord Regional Airport – on SW edge of Gaylord, owned and operated by Otsego County, is a General Utility Airport. It is listed as a tier one airport in all categories of the Michigan Airport System Plan.