Michigan's County Courthouses

Leelanau County

100 lElAND/SuTTONS BAY—As the tip of Michigan’s little finger, leelanau County unlike most others is defined geographically by the natural boundaries of lake Michigan. The thirty-five mile peninsula boasts over one hundred miles of coastline and the forty-fifth parallel, the midpoint between the North Pole and the equator, nearly perfectly bisects it. This land is also home to Michigan’s most recent county seat change. leelanau’s itinerant county seat reaches back to its very origin. When the county was organized on February , , the legislature gave local voters three choices for the county seat: Northport, leland, or Glen Arbor. voters selected the relatively remote enclave at Northport. The county’s population was , persons. The name of the county means “land of delight.” Due to a typographical error attributed to lansing,it was spelled on maps and in records as leelanaw until officially changed to its current and intended form in . Judge F. J. littlejohn presided over the first session of circuit court in Northport in a schoolhouse on a hill on May , . in September of the following year the first criminal case was filed, a charge of adultery against Peter Drew. For unexplained reasons the prosecution withdrew the case in June . The county has record of a suit before organization for recovery for the death of a dog. The plaintiff sought $ but only recovered $. By any measure of inflation the dog proved quite an expensive breed for the defendant. No permanent court was ever constructed in Northport. County offices were housed in rooms above a store. After a fire and a vote of  to , the county seat moved south along the peninsula to leland in . The origin of its name is uncertain. it is generally accepted that due to its location on the eastern shore of lake Michigan where the prevailing westward winds blow it was the “lee land.” it is at the mouth of the Carp River. Well before the move, a letter writer to a local newspaper cautioned against it on March , . He argued that leland only had a furnace, a company store, and a lot of smoke but no hotel, grist mill, or brewery. He recounted the experience of a friend, who sought a hotel or a place to dine there. He was directed to the store, where he had beer and crackers. From  to , leland had a wooden courthouse that once belonged to an ironworks enterprise that never quite took root despite its efforts at making pig iron. Many of the coastal towns emerged as fuel stations for passing steamers, selling their hardwood timber for the boats to burn. The county built a small and sturdy jail in  reportedly from recycled bricks that once made up the chimney of the ironworks. The small structure still stands on the courthouse lawn, having served at various stages as a historical museum, the prosecutor’s office, and storage space. its neighbor is the now former courthouse, built in . it is a modern one-story, flat-roofed brick building. The architects were Field, Graheck, Bell & Kline of Traverse City, and the general contractor was Arnold & Tezak, inc. The hallway featured portraits and biographies of the county’s many probate judges. Elsewhere one could see a judge’s robe hanging on a coatrack in the middle of a public hallway. Leelanau County lEElANAu COuNTY 101 The roof of the courtroom was somewhat raised, creating space for rows of windows that let in natural light. The room was somewhat narrow but long. Rows of large bulbous light fixtures lined the room, along with hanging ceiling fans. The public sat in theater-style wooden folding chairs that were connected to each other in rows and bolted to the tile floor. Jurors enjoyed white cushioned swivel chairs that lean backward. The walls were lined with brick, except for the wall behind the bench, which was finished wood that contrasts with the standing flags. With the recent departure of the county government from leland, it is unclear what will happen to the building and its surrounding grounds. Now anyone who has official county business to transact will have to travel to Suttons Bay, the new county seat. The town is named for an early settler. it was once called Suttonsburg and Pleasant City. Sixty-two percent of voters chose it for the county seat in August . The new ,-square-foot courthouse was built on forty-six acres off M-, west of Suttons Bay and east of lake leelanau. The Sheriff’s Office...