Van Buren County (Michigan)
Van Buren County is a county located in the state of Michigan in the United States. The administrative headquarters ( County Seat) is the city Paw Paw.
Geography
Van Buren County is located in southwest Michigan, by the County, the highway and the railway line runs from Chicago to Detroit. In South Haven, the county also has access to Lake Michigan. It is bordered on the southwest by Berrien County, on the south by Cass County, on the southeast by St. Joseph County, on the east by Kalamazoo County and on the north by Allegan County.
History
The county was named after the U.S. President Martin Van Buren and even before this president had become. At that time, he served as Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. Other cabinet members Jacksons were patron saints of counties in Michigan, which are therefore called also "Cabinet counties ".
1900-1990 2000 2010
Natural space
Van Buren County is largely dominated by agriculture; at the boundary to the east adjacent Kalamazoo County, however, the urbanization around the city Kalamazoo can be seen.
Almost half of the county area is occupied by water surfaces. Besides the two major rivers of the area, the Paw Paw River and the Black River, it involves a series of lakes, of which the Paw Paw Lake is the most important. The County is also rich in natural parks and protected landscape areas that are frequented by day-trippers from the nearby Chicago. Mentioned are the Dunes Parkway, a 340,000 -square-foot dune area near the town of Covert, the Jeptha Lake in the city of Columbia, the Kal- Haven Trail, a hiking trail along the disused railway line from Kalamazoo to South Haven, Van Buren Trail State Park, the Keeler State Game area in the town of Keeler, Ross Preserve, a 5.9 km ² protected area on the coast near Covert and the Van Buren State Park.
Population
Of the 76 263 residents are 87.9 percent white, 5.3 percent African-American, 0.9 percent Native American ancestry, 7.4 percent are Latinos or Hispanics. The average annual per capita income of 17.878 U.S. dollars. 11.1 percent of the population live below the poverty line.
Communities
The largest municipalities in the county are:
- Hartford ( 2476 inhabitants)
- Paw Paw ( 3363 inhabitants)
- South Haven ( 5021 inhabitants)