Ottawa County Courthouses

First Ottawa County Court House
1837-1857

Second Ottawa County Court House
1857-1894

Third Ottawa County Court House
1894-1965

Ottawa County was an unchartered territory supervised by the United State government.  On January 26, 1837, the federal government adopted legislation to make Michigan the twenty-sixth state in the Union.  On December 29, 1837 the Michigan legislature enacted a law declaring Ottawa a County of Michigan.  The area was divided to make Muskegon and Ottawa separate counties. In 1840 a County Board of Supervisors was appointed: Erastus Wilcox, Bethuel Church, and William Hathaway.  Later Sanders Coats replaced Hathaway.  Taxes were apportioned in 1839.  The total evaluation was $33,127.  The property tax generated was $1,700.  Ten years later the entire county evaluation was $500,00. 

The selection of a county seat caused many heated arguments.  A vote settled the debate: Grand Haven, the trade center with one third of the county population, won.  By the centennial, 1876, Ottawa County's population was 32,000.

Transcribed and Scanned: ES
Created: 26 Jul 2006
URL: http://ottawa.migenweb.net/towns/grhaven/courthouses.html