Lapeer County was derived from the French word "LePierre" which means flint or flint stone and was used by French and Indian traders to describe the rocky river bed of what we now know as the Flint river , a river that flows through part of the county. The English translation of the Canadian French accent of this word is "Lapeer". Hence, Governor Cass choose "Lapeer" as the name of the county. Lapeer County is located at the base of the Thumb in the Southeastern Lower Peninsula .   Today Lapeer County is home to the oldest courthouse still in use in Michigan and it's also one of the 10 oldest courthouses in the United States . It was built in 1846 by Alvin Hart, a state senator, and was rented to the county for one dollar. Lapeer County 's principal industry from the 1830's until about 1870 was lumber. The lumber was floated down the Flint River to sawmills in Flint , Saginaw , and Bay City . I n the years of 1871 and 1881 there were devastating forest fires in the thumb area and this brought the end to the lumber boom. However there were favorable side effects of the fires, they cleared the land of trees and brush which made it possible for Lapeer County to become a highly productive farming area. Crops at the turn of the century were barley, oats, wheat, and potatoes. In the 1940's Dairy farming came into its own and at one time Lapeer County had the highest concentration of dairy cattle in Michigan . Today F arming still goes on but there are only half as many farms as there were in the early 1900's. Lapeer County's 159 lakes and wide open farm land make the opportunities for hunting & fishing endless in Outdoor Michigan.

Lapeer County Websites and Locations of Interest

http://www.infomi.com/county/lapeer/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapeer_County%2C_Michigan