Leelanau County (LEE-lə-naw) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,301. Since 2008, the county seat has been located within Suttons Bay Township, one mile east of the unincorporated village of Lake Leelanau. Before 2008, Leelanau County's seat was Leland. Leelanau County is included in the Traverse City metropolitan area of Northern Michigan. The largest settlement in Leelanau County by population is Greilickville, itself a suburb of Traverse City.
Leelanau County is coterminous with the Leelanau Peninsula, a roughly triangular-shaped peninsula that extends about 30 miles (50 km) off of Michigan's Lower Peninsula into Lake Michigan. East of Leelanau County is Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.
In 2011, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, located in the county, won the title of "Most Beautiful Place in America" in a poll by morning news show Good Morning America.
Traditionally, the county's name was said to be a Native American word meaning "delight of life", but it is a neologism from Indian agent and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft, who sometimes gave the name "Leelinau" to Native American women in his tales. He created many faux Indian place names in Michigan, using syllables of Ojibwe, Latin and Arabic, neglecting the fact that the Ojibwa language lacks any of the phonemes associated with the letter 'L' in English.
More recently, however, scholars have established that Leelinau was first used as a pen name by Henry's wife, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, in writings for The Literary Voyager, a family magazine which they co-wrote in the 1820s. Jane Johnston was of Ojibwa and Scots-Irish descent, and wrote in Ojibwe and English. While her writing was not published formally in her lifetime (except as Schoolcraft appropriated it under his own name), Jane Johnston Schoolcraft has been recognized as "the first Native American literary writer, the first known Indian woman writer, the first known Indian poet, the first known poet to write poems in a Native American language, and the first known American Indian to write out traditional Indian stories. In 2008 Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.
Leelanau County was separated as an unorganized county in 1840 by the Michigan Legislature. In 1851, it was attached the Grand Traverse County for governmental purposes, and was temporarily given the name "Leelanau Township". In 1863, Leelanau County was organized in its own right. The same year, the southern portion of Leelanau County was separated as Benzie County, and was subsequently attached to Grand Traverse County until 1869.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was established in 1970, protecting much of the natural scenery of the area at the federal level.
In 2008, the county seat moved from Leland to a site in Suttons Bay Township, near the town of Lake Leelanau.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,532 square miles (6,560 km), of which 347 square miles (900 km) is land and 2,185 square miles (5,660 km) (86%) is water.
Leelanau County comprises the entire Leelanau Peninsula, a roughly triangular peninsula that extends about 30 miles (50 km) from the western side of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Michigan. The peninsula forms the western shore of the Grand Traverse Bay. At its base, the peninsula is about 20 miles (30 km) wide. Leelanau County is one of a handful of counties in the United States that is entirely peninsular, a list also including Huron and Keweenaw counties elsewhere in Michigan, nearby Door County in Wisconsin, and San Francisco in California.
The county has the second-highest proportion of water area of any county in the United States, behind only Keweenaw County, Michigan. Lake Leelanau is the county's largest body of inland water, empties into Lake Michigan through the Leland River. Glen Lake, located within the boundaries of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. A substantial portion of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore lies within the county's borders, including North Manitou and South Manitou Islands. Leelanau has been party to substantial efforts to protect itself from growth, and to foster a nature conservancy.
Extreme southeastern Leelanau County, specifically portions of Elmwood Township, are urbanized due to their proximity to Traverse City, which itself extends partially into the county. Traverse City is the largest city in Northern Michigan by population.
By land
By water
Census-designated places
editUnincorporated communities
editAs of the 2000 United States census, there were 21,119 people, 8,436 households, and 6,217 families residing in the county. By the 2020 census, there were 22,301 people in the county.
There are 26 wineries on the peninsula. The Leelanau Peninsula sits astride the 45th parallel, a latitude known for growing prestigious grapes. The two Grand Traverse Bays provide the ideal maritime climate, and the rich soil does the rest. Northern Michigan specializes in growing white grapes, and is known for its Rieslings, which grow well in the summer months and late fall. The local wineries host an annual harvest fest in October. Some Riesling grapes are spared being picked in the fall, to be picked instead when they freeze, from which ice wine is made. These wineries are in the Leelanau Peninsula AVA.
- Prosecuting Attorney – Joseph T. Hubbell
- Probate Judge – Marian Kromkowski
- Sheriff – Michael Borkovich
- County Clerk – Michelle L. Crocker
- County Treasurer – John A. Gallagher
- Register of Deeds – Dorothy M. Miller
- Drain Commissioner – Steven R. Christensen
- Commissioner Dist. 1 – Jamie Kramer
- Commissioner Dist. 2 – James O'Rourke
- Commissioner Dist. 3 – Doug Rexroat
- Commissioner Dist. 4 – Ty Wessell
- Commissioner Dist. 5 – Kama Ross
- Commissioner Dist. 6 – Gwenne Allgaier
- Commissioner Dist. 7 – Melinda Lautner
Leelanau County has been reliably Republican since its organization, but appears to be becoming more Democratic. Since 1884, the Republican Party nominee has carried the county vote in 30 of 35 national elections through 2020. However, in 2020 the county voted for Joe Biden, after it voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. In 2024, it was one of the few counties in Michigan to move to the left compared to 2020.
In gubernatorial races, Leelanau County has become a bellwether, backing the statewide winner in every election since 2006. The county voted for Democrat Jennifer Granholm in 2006, Republican Rick Snyder in 2010 and 2014, and Democrat Gretchen Whitmer in 2018 and 2022.
Leelanau County operates the county 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.
The Northwest Educational Services, based in Traverse City, services the students in the county along with those of Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Kalkaska. The intermediate school district offers regional special education services, early education and English learner programs, and technical career pathways for students of its districts.
Leelanau County is served by the following regular public school districts:
The county also has the following independent charter districts:
- Leelanau Montessori Public School Academy
Leelanau County has the following private schools:
- M-22 / LMCT is a highway that follows the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The highway enters Leelanau County from the southwest near Empire, and runs northeasterly through the communities of Glen Arbor and Leland before reaching Northport. At Northport, M-22 turns back southward, and runs through Omena, Suttons Bay, and Greilickville before exiting into Traverse City. The highway reaches its terminus at US 31/M-37 about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southeast of the Leelanau County line.
- M-72 is an east–west highway that follows the base of the Leelanau Peninsula. The highway begins at M-22 in Empire, and continues easterly across the southern tier of the county for about 22 miles (35 km) before reaching M-22 again in Traverse City. The highway continues southeast into Grand Traverse County, and runs across the Lower Peninsula before terminating in Harrisville, on Lake Huron.
- M-109 is a highway in the northwestern part of the county. The highway begins at M-22 north of Empire, and continues north along the west side of Glen Lake. South of Glen Haven, the route turns east, and enters Glen Arbor, where it terminates once more at M-22.
- M-201 is a short highway in the north of the county. The route begins at M-22 south of Northport, and runs north into the village. The highway terminates immediately north of the village, and connects with various county roads that can be used to access Leelanau State Park and the Grand Traverse Light.
- M-204 is a highway that serves as an east–west connector about halfway up the peninsula. The highway begins at M-22 south of Leland, and continues east into the community of Lake Leelanau. The highway passes the Leelanau County Governmental Center before terminating once more at M-22 in Suttons Bay.
Additionally, another highway, M-209, ran from M-109 to the Coast Guard Life Saving Station in Glen Haven. Until it was decommissioned in 1995, it was Michigan's shortest highway.
- USBR 35 enters Leelanau County from the southwest, and follows M-22 and M-109 up the west side of the Leelanau Peninsula. The route then turns east along M-204, then south again along M-22 in Suttons Bay. The route then follows the Leelanau Trail south into Grand Traverse County.
The nearest airport with commercial service to Leelanau County is Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City. Leelanau County is home to a number of local airstrips, including Woolsey Memorial Airport.
- Jim Harrison – author, long-time resident of Leland Township
- Kathleen Sebelius – former Secretary of US Health and Human Services and former governor of Kansas; vacations at a summer home built by her grandfather in Leland
- The northernmost village of Northport and surrounding Leelanau Township have achieved fame as an area where the rich and famous can live quietly and anonymously. According to the Leelanau Visitors Guide: "Chef Mario Batali lives north of town at Cathead point, and comedian and actor Tim Allen routinely spent summers in Northport until his divorce. Financier Mark Spitznagel summers in Northport Point, a posh community just outside the village."
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