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Antrim County
- University of Michigan Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
11 bellaIre—the vacating of an old courthouse usually marks the end of a county ever holding court there. the building will eventually either meet the wrecking ball or get converted for some other purpose, often as a historical museum. antrim County’s restored courthouse stands as a prominent example bucking the trend.a cadre of individuals with a sense of history and a determined will put the court back in the house that stood empty for twelve years between 1978 and 1990. originally named meguzee (“eagle”) in 1840 for the chief who ceded lands to america, antrim County was renamed along with several other michigan counties for a county in Ireland. though some say that Irish settlers were reminded of Irish terrain, historians question the theory based on the fact that few Irish settled in antrim. some attribute the naming of several michigan counties after Irish territory to the work of a nameless bureaucrat or a quiet legislator in lansing. antrim reportedly means “solitary farm.” the area was decidedly solitary in its early history. the census in 1860 recorded only 148 settlers, with all of them located on the coast of lake michigan in the western edge of the county. elk rapids, the oldest sizeable settlement in the county, located in its far southwest corner, was the county seat. It was originally called stevens. It built a simple wooden courthouse in 1866 for $7,100. the sheriff and his family lived in the basement. the 1870 census counted a population of 1,866, with most people living inland. the new population distribution and the remote location of elk rapids prompted a push for a more central county seat. In the end, the county voted 574 Antrim County aNtrIm CouNty to 446 in april 1879 for a central location in the wilderness with little settlement at all. the village of bellaire was recorded in June 1879. less than a week earlier, the post office there was established as Keno, a contradiction that was not corrected in bellaire’s favor until may 1880. the name bellaire is of unknown origin. some say that an early surveyor chose it for the clearness and purity of the air. others combine that theory with a story honoring mrs. bell Wadsworth, an early pioneer in the area. though bellaire won the county seat, bitter wrangling continued for years before the courthouse cornerstone was laid November 11, 1904. bellaire designated a courthouse square that stood empty for years except when it was used as a ball field and for fairs. the county treasurer was sued for obstructing construction and for appropriating the county records, the earliest of which were never recovered. he resigned and was sued all the way to the michigan supreme Court. Justice thomas Cooley wrote an opinion siding with bellaire in 1880. temporary facilities were used in bellaire until 1883. then the county rented office space in the town hall for $250 a year. stone purchased for the courthouse stood unused until the school foundation needed material in 1890. logging companies moved to delay construction because they wanted to cut their trees and get out before a heavy tax burden for building a courthouse would be imposed. Indeed, many michigan counties found the impetus and the funds for grand courthouses by imposing property taxes on itinerant industries that county leaders did not expect to remain permanently in the area. Finally, on april 4, 1904, voters approved a loan of 12 aNtrIm CouNty $26,000 for the courthouse construction, to be paid off by a property tax. total construction cost was about $30,000. Jens C. Peterson designed the building, and Waterman and Price built it. once constructed and dedicated, the grand late Victorian red brick building had an empty tower. only in 1922, after the fire department led a fundraising drive, was a clock purchased. Inside the courthouse hanging in a frame are handwritten donation pledges that were collected. the clock was installed on December 14,1922,and its hands were set in motion at 3:35 p.m. the forty-three-year struggle for antrim’s courthouse in bellaire seemed complete, and the people had a new center for government, social events, and even childhood vaccinations. but time and the elements presented new challenges. the four faces of the clock were independently set, which meant that wind and heavy snow would slow down one or more faces at different rates. anyone late for an appointment or a curfew could take advantage of...