The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1879-10-09
History Of LabG county.

Its Location and Bompddries- Ithe,
First Laid Out Counties to Which
IL Has Been Attached When
Orgdnizcd-1ounships Or
ga,lixed = Soil. Water,
Timber, dc.
Lake county Is OH the 44th parallel
longitude SO. Its western line is abou
% miles from Lake Michigan; and IL Il
bounded, on the north by Wexford and
Manistee counties; on the east by Os'
ceola county; on the south by Neway'
go county, and on the west by Mason
county.
The county was first laid out In 1910
four years after the admission of Mich.
igan as State i'm the Union; and forty
years after the organization of Michi.
gan as territory. AT the time it was
laid out it was attached to Ottawa
county, where it remained till 1855
when Mason county was organized
from Ottawa county, and the territory
now composing Lake county attached
to Mason. In 1857, it was attached to
Newaygo county organized in 1851;
and again transferred to Mason, i'm 1858.
In 1867, the four towns OH the east side
of the present county were attached to
Mecosta county; the balance ofthe ter
ritory remaining with Mason. The
east four towns were known as Chase,
and the part with Mason county, Lake
township. In 1860, the east half was
attached to Osceola county; and the
territory remained thus divided be-
tween Mason and Osceola till the Or
ganization of Lake county, which took
place at the session of the Legislature,
in 1871. The county is "a miles square;
or, has l6 towns aggregating 576 square
miles. The names of the townships I'm
the organization were, Chase, Pinora,
Ellsworth, Killbuck and Lake. BY an
oversight, or other cause, the Town.
ship of Pleasant Plains was left out of
the organization by the Legislature, and
the Board of Supervisors organized it.
The population of the county at the
time of its organizat ton, based upon the
census of the year previous-lS7O-was
54S; which had increased, in 1874, to
1878. 1t is probably safe to estimate
1t at 5000 at the present time.
In 1872, the Townships Of Webber.
Cherry Valley and Yates were organ
lied. In January, 1874, the Township
of Elk was organized, composed of
Towns Is, 10 and 20-l4; and In Decem-
ber Of same year, Eden was organized
on 20-l3. In February, 1875, the Leg
islature changed the name of Killbuck
to Glencoe township, which then held
the territory of Towns 20-ll and IL.
In October, 1875, the Township of Do
yer was organized OH 21-1l. In Janu-
AIRY, 1876, Town 10 North, Of Range l3
West was detached from Ellsworth and
attached to Eden township. At the
present date there are IL organized
townships, their respective localities be-
ing as follows: Chase, Town II North,
Range ii West, 3G square miles; Pino-
ra, 1911, 30 square miles; Ellsworth,
1911 and 1912, 72square miles, Dover,
20-l1, 36 square miles; Glencoe, 20-l2;
Cherry Valley, 1912; Yates, 17-l2;
Pleasant Plains, l7-13; Webber, 1918;
Eden, 10 and 2O-l3, or ~ square miles;
Elk, lS, 10 and 20-l4, or l0S square
miles; Lake, IT-l4.
The general "layn of the land is roll
ing; with bluffs along some portions of
the rivers. The northeast portion of
the county may be classed as quite
hilly. The same may be said of a por-
ton of Town 1914. There is variety
of soil; clay and clay loan, sand and
sandy loan, with gravel and muck.
In number of the lakes and marshes
is found considerable deposits of mari.
which will doubtless be eventually util-
lied as a fertilizer of the soil. Mari is
found exclusively on the "plains."
The eastern tier of townships are near
ly all heavy soils hard woods and pine);
while the remainder of the county lex
cept portion i'm the west part of Lake
township, known as the Carr Settle
ment), is n lighter soil, sand plains and
pine, with some spots of gravelly ma
ture, and white oak groves. The So
called plains are generally covered with
q species of pine or balsam; usually
styled 'Jack pine" by the settlers;
growing to a height of from 80 to 80
feet; and eight to ten inches in DIANA
ter. The leaves are from an inch to an
inch and a half long, and cover the
stem, similar to spruce, instead ofgrow-
In lunches or tassels, as on the white
or Norway pine. 1t bears cones about
the size of common finger thimble.
The wood is quite resinous. 1t is used
chiefly for firewood; although pole
fences are frequently made from 1t;
and 1t is quite lasting when used for
girts, &C., on inside work Of buildings.
Dead, and left exposed to action of the
elements, 1t decays quickly, a fact that
renders the plains land easily cleared
the stumps decaying within two or
three years, SO they can be removed
with little labor. Abundance of wild
grasses, herbs and shrubs, similar to
those found on the Western prairies,
grow on the plains, and afford fine
fields for pasturing herds during about
seven months Of the year.
As the name indicates, Lake county
ls well supplied with water. There are
SO LAX es Of considerable size, besides
many smaller ones. Star Lake, situ-
sted In the southwest part Of Lake
township, Is the principle sheet Of wa
ter; being about miles In length, and
from / to Ia miles I'm width. It IL O