Description and Map of the Western District of Michigan
Geographic Boundaries
The Western District of Michigan is unique not only because it is one of the nation's longest federal law enforcement districts, but also because it is broken into two peninsulas. Altogether, the Western District extends more than 700 miles from the southern extremity to the northwest border. To be exact, the Western District of Michigan covers 35,229 square miles and encompasses forty-nine counties, thirty-four of them in the lower peninsula.
The Western District is diversely populated and split into two divisions. The Southern Division is the western half of the lower peninsula and comprises thirty-four counties. There are three U.S. Attorney's Offices in the lower peninsula, Grand Rapids and Lansing (staffed offices) and Kalamazoo (unstaffed office). The northern Division is in the upper peninsula, and has a staffed office in Marquette. See the list of counties below that are in the Western District of Michigan.
The northern part of the district and upper peninsula has a number of Native American reservations that are also under the auspices of the U.S. Attorney. The southern areas are more intensely populated and centralized in Grand Rapids, which is the 52nd largest metropolitan area in the country. The Western District also includes the state capitol, Lansing.
Western District of Michigan
Northern Division:
Alger, Baraga, Chippewa, Delta, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton,
Iron, Keweenaw, Luce, Mackinac, Marquette, Menominee, Ontonagon,
Schoolcraft
Southern Division:
Allegan, Antrim, Barry, Benzie, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Charlevoix, Clinton, Eaton, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Lake, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Ottawa, St. Joseph, Van Buren, Wexford
About our Banner Picture
The graphic located at the top of each page shows the picture of the Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Bridge, a graphic of the State of Michigan showing the location of the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan, and the seal of the Department of Justice. Just as the Mackinac Bridge connects the people in the upper and lower pennisula of Michigan, so too does the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan connect the residents within the western lower penninsula, and the upper penninsula of Michigan with the Department of Justice.
The state of Michigan has two penninsulas; the upper penninsula and the lower penninsula. These two penninsulas are separated by the Straits of Mackinac and until 1957 there was no way of going directly from one penninsula to the other. On May 7 - 8, 1954 construction began on the Mackinac Bridge and the bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957.
The Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and the third longest suspension bridge in the world. The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet, or about 5 miles in length. If you would like more information on the Mackinac Bridge, view the Mackinac Bridge Authority's web site at: http://www.mackinacbridge.org/
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This web page last updated on: March 23, 2007