- Cheboygan County -

Cheboygan county is one of the two northernmost counties in Michigan's lower peninsula. It is bounded north by the straits of Mackinac, east by Presque Isle County, south by Montmorency and Otsego counties, and west by Charlevoix and Emmet counties. It was formed from Michilimackinac County on April 1, 1840. In 1849 it was organized by the legislature into a township to be called Sheboygan. In 1850 the legislature renamed town of Sheboygan to Inverness. The counties of Cheboygan and Wyandot were consolidated in 1853 and designated as Cheboygan county. The first county seat was at Duncan, but later removed to Cheboygan city. The first white settler was Jacob Sammons.

The State of Michigan Gazetteer & Business Directory for 1856-'57 points out the vast timber and lumber manufacturing in Cheboygan. Being situated at the tip of the "mitten" gave Cheboygan excellent opportunities to ship timber and lumber to ports in either direction. There was only 7 feet of water over the bar at the mouth of the river so, in 1871, harbor improvements began and, in 1884, a lighthouse erected. During the 1888 season of navigation 100 million board feet of lumber sailed out of the harbor.

Cheboygan County has a total area of 885 square miles (462,439.73 acres of land) which includes 170 square miles of water. There are nineteen townships in the county. The largest city, and county seat, is Cheboygan.