 tuscola county is a county located in the thumb region of the u.s. state of michigan. as of the 2010 census, the population was 55,729. the county seat is caro. the county was created by michigan law on april 1, 1840, from land in sanilac county and attached to saginaw county for administrative purposes. the michigan legislature passed an act on march 2, 1850, that empowered the county residents to organize governmental functions.acts of michigan legislature tuscola county is one of five counties that are in the thumb area. like the rest of the thumb, tuscola county enjoys seasonal tourism from larger cities like flint, detroit and saginaw. ==history==  the name tuscola was a neologism created by henry schoolcraft. one scholar believes it to be a combination of "dusinagon" (level) and "cola" (lands). the chippewa/ottawa word "dusinagon", or "tessi-nagan", actually, means flat dish or plate. the early chippewa/ottawa often used a shell or bark from a tree for a dish or plate. shell in their language was "essi", which may be the root of tuscola. the thumb of michigan, which includes tuscola, huron, and sanilac counties, was in the 17th century called skenchioe, which may be related to the onondaga word "uschwuntschios", which means plain or flat. it was said that skenchioe, the early home of the fox people, me
1850_establishments_in_Michigan Michigan_counties Populated_places_established_in_1850