Cass County, Michigan lies in the southwest portion of Michigan's Lower
Peninsula. It is in the southern tier of counties and is bordered to the
north by Van Buren County, to the east by Saint Joseph County, to the west
by Berrien County, and to the south by Saint Joseph and Elkhart Counties in
Indiana.

Cass County was named after Lewis Cass, who was the Territorial Governor of
Michigan from 1814-1831.

Cass County's boundaries were set off by an act of the Legislative Council
of the Territory of Michigan on October 29, 1829. The county was politically
organized on November 4, 1829, meaning it could establish its own courts,
levy its own taxes, etc.

Berrien County, Michigan was attached politically to Cass County until
September 1, 1831.

The first documented settlement of the county occurred in the spring of
1829, when Abram Tiestort, Jr and family settled on the banks of Stone Lake.
Prior to this time, fur trappers and hunters traveled the streams, rivers
and Indian trails of the county. Although not documented, the first
Europeans to set foot in what is now Cass County probably occurred around
1690, when the French established Fort Saint Joseph, just over the western
county line, near present-day Niles, Berrien County.

The county seat, Cassopolis, was established in 1832 and has remained the
county seat since that time. Interestingly, early maps of the day spell the
town’s name “Cassapolis”.

When the first pioneers entered Cass County in the 1830s, they found virgin
forests made up of American Beech and Sugar Maple, Oak-Hickory forests, oak
savannahs, and several relatively small tall-grass prairies. Animals
documented in Cass County at the time of settlement included American Bison,
Elk, Black Bear, Gray Wolf, Coyote, White-tailed Deer, Porcupine, Otter,
Cougar, Bobcat, Canada Lynx, etc. The early settlers of Cass County have
described large flocks of the now extinct Passenger Pigeon. Flocks of one
million plus birds were known to forage on mast in Cass County's woods.
Greater Prairie Chickens danced on the tall-grass prairies of the county and
the Common Raven could be heard croaking in the dense woods. Both of these
species are now extinct in this region.

When the French first arrived in what is now Southwest Michigan, c1680, they
found the Miami Indian tribe as the inhabitants of the area. By the early
17th Century, the Pottawatomi Indians were the dominant tribe. However, by
the early 1820s, most of the native peoples had been removed westward by the
American Government. One band of Potawattomis, the Pokagon band, stayed in
the area as they had converted to Christianity and had adopted many
European-American customs.

As the 19th Century progressed, agriculture became the dominant industry in
Cass County. Lumbering was important, but as no modern forms of conservation
were implemented at that time, the non-renewable resource was fast depleted.

The population of Cass County was 17,895 in 1860, on the eve of the American
Civil War; ten years later, it had grown to 21,094……ninety years later, in
1960, the county tallied 43,312 persons. According to the 2000 census, the
population of Cass County was roughly 50,000.

As the 19th Century drew to a close, the tourist/recreation industry started
to become economically important to the county. Many hotels and resorts
popped up on the shores of the many inland lakes of Cass County.

During the 20th century, both agriculture (hog raising), manufacturing and
tourism were the main economic forces in the county. It was said that in the
mid to late 20th century, that the number of hogs in the county exceeded the
number of persons!

At the dawn of the new millennium, agriculture seems to be giving way to
tourism as the economic lifeline of the county, which is true of many
municipalities in this region.