Our History: This is a story of travel by water and land around and through trackless forest and winding rivers to claim new nations, new territories in the name of God, kings and individuals, one of bold adventure, trade and war, and, finally, settlement and civilization. It remains an epic tale of our ancestors and their sacrifice and struggle to establish an existence in wild, untamed and often inhospitable places. From virgin old growth hardwoods, these strong and principled people carved humbled farms, busy villages and vibrant towns. Today, we call that place Hillsdale County, Michigan.

Although filled with glacial debris from the last ice age, this south-central Michigan county retained prime soil for growing crops, an all important consideration for early 19th century peoples dependent upon an agriculturally-based society. For three-fourths of the year during the spring, summer and autumn, southern Michigan is lush green peppered with colors of striking contrast. Some long-time residents have called Hillsdale County "the cradle," meaning it's a place they seldom want to be far from for any length of time. At this writing, the population has grown to nearly 50,000. People have prospered in this place, but our civilization wasn't the first to make homes in the hills and dales.

Located in the central part of the southern tier of lower Michigan counties, Hillsdale County was named for the terrain which features "hills and dales." A "dale" is a valley, or an elongated depression of the earth's surface commonly situated between ranges of hills or mountains. Although there are no mountains in Hillsdale County, there are heights that rise 1,250 feet above sea level giving life to the headwaters for five major rivers that drain into Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. Topographical maps indicate that the highest point in the county is located at the corners of Wood and Kelso Roads in Adams Township. As a major watershed with more than 100 lakes, and as many ponds, the rivers that begin within the county's borders include the St. Joseph flowing into Lake Michigan, the St. Joseph of the Maumee, the Kalamazoo, the Grand and the Raisin. Spring fed, the rivers flow north, south, east and west from the highlands.

The county is bounded on the north by Calhoun and Jackson Counties, on the east by Lenawee County, on the west by Branch County and Steuben County Indiana. The extreme southwest corner of Hillsdale County is where three states of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana meet, the only place where Michigan borders two other states. On maps, the county is situated at 42" north latitude and 84"30' west longitude, and comprises about 617 square miles, or 394,880 acres. The land lies an average of 630 feet above Lake Erie and 616 feet above Lake Michigan.