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Michigan County
Baraga County, Michigan
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe heritage and Sturgeon River Gorge - from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (the L'Anse and Ontonagon bands of Lake Superior Chippewa maintain a significant tribal presence in Baraga County, with the Ojibwe Cultural Center and the tribe's businesses including the Ojibwe Casino anchoring the community's Indigenous cultural and economic identity on the shores of Keweenaw Bay) to the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness (one of the Upper Peninsula's most spectacular natural areas, the Sturgeon River cuts a dramatic gorge through Baraga County's Ottawa National Forest - the falls, old-growth hemlocks, and wild river canyon create a wilderness landscape of exceptional beauty accessible by trail from the Sidnaw area).
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Office: Baraga County Emergency Management – 2 S. Main Street, L’Anse, MI 49946 | Coordinator Jeff Hubbard | Email: [email protected].
Sheriff: Baraga County Sheriff’s Office – 940 US Highway 41, L’Anse, MI 49946 | (906) 524-6100, Ext. 695 | Fax: (906) 524-5577; Sheriff Joe Brogan (a L’Anse native); Hours: 24/7.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-41 serves L’Anse, the county seat, and the village of Baraga, on the shores of Keweenaw Bay in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Notes: Baraga County is home to the L’Anse Indian Reservation, administered by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and established by the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe – Michigan’s oldest and largest Native American reservation, home to Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) communities.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Baraga County Courthouse – L’Anse, MI 49946.
Notes: Baraga County is genuinely named for Bishop Frederic Baraga (1797-1868), a Slovenian-born Catholic missionary known as the “Snowshoe Priest” for his arduous winter travels on snowshoes to reach remote Ojibwe communities across the Upper Peninsula; he became the first Bishop of the Upper Peninsula and is remembered as the “Apostle of the Great Lakes.” Baraga compiled one of the first Ojibwe-English dictionaries and, in a notable act of interfaith cooperation, worked with a local Methodist missionary to help establish the reservation land that became the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. The 35-foot, four-ton Shrine of the Snowshoe Priest, depicting Bishop Baraga atop a cliff overlooking Keweenaw Bay, stands along US-41 between L’Anse and Baraga; nearby Assinins, on the reservation, preserves a historic schoolhouse and one of the Upper Peninsula’s oldest cemeteries. The Baraga County Historical Museum is undergoing a major expansion (broken ground October 2025) to add dedicated galleries on KBIC and Anishinaabe history.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Baraga County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via baragacounty.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current L’Anse-area public library address/phone via baragacounty.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Shrine of the Snowshoe Priest, Baraga State Park (116 campsites on Keweenaw Bay), and Assinins Historic Site are the county’s premier attractions. Moose are occasionally spotted south of L’Anse and near Skanee.
Notes: The genuine, deeply significant Bishop Baraga missionary history and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community heritage are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Baraga County Equalization Office – confirm current contact via baragacounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Copper Country Humane Society (Houghton, MI) – serves Baraga, Houghton, and Keweenaw Counties plus the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community under contract with Baraga County; a “no time limits” no-kill shelter; confirm current phone via cchumanesociety.com.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Baraga County – confirm current contact via baragacounty.org.
NOTES: Baraga County is the seventh and final county in the first batch of the Michigan v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, deeply significant Bishop Baraga missionary history and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community heritage are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Baraga County
Baraga County is the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe heritage and Sturgeon River Gorge county – the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s vibrant tribal presence and the dramatic river gorge wilderness in the Ottawa National Forest define a remote UP county whose Indigenous cultural heritage and spectacular natural landscape define life along the south shore of Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay.
L’Anse (the county seat, population ~2,000) is Baraga County’s governmental hub on Keweenaw Bay, a small Upper Peninsula community serving the county’s tribal and outdoor recreation communities.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Baraga County Assessor at 16 N. 3rd Street, L’Anse, MI 49946, phone 906-524-6183.
Courts & Legal
Baraga County Probate Court at 16 N. 3rd Street, L’Anse, MI 49946, phone 906-524-6100, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
16 N. 3rd St., L'Anse, MI 49946
(906) 524-6183
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Baraga County Probate Court (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Baraga County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Baraga County Probate Court Baraga County Courthouse, 16 N. Third Street, L’Anse, MI 49946 Baraga County is in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on Keweenaw Bay, seated in L’Anse.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Michigan probate is governed by the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL 700.1101 et seq.
Transfer by Affidavit (Small Estate Affidavit) – under MCL 700.3982/700.3983, available when the estate’s gross value (after funeral and burial expenses) doesn’t exceed a threshold that’s adjusted annually for inflation (roughly $51,000-$53,000 in recent years). No real estate can be involved. At least 28 days must pass after death before this affidavit can be used. The affidavit isn’t filed with the court; it’s presented directly to whoever holds the asset (a bank, for instance), along with a death certificate.
Petition and Order for Assignment (PC 556) – a small estate process for estates at or below the same statutory threshold, but this one CAN include real property. An heir or the person who paid the funeral bill files this petition with the probate court; the judge reviews and signs the order, and there’s a filing fee plus a statutory inventory fee based on estate value.
Informal Probate – the standard track for most estates above the small-estate threshold. Filed using Application for Informal Probate and/or Appointment of Personal Representative (PC 558); the court issues Letters of Authority (PC 573) to the personal representative without a hearing when the application is straightforward.
Formal/Supervised Administration – required when the will is contested, there’s a dispute over who should serve as personal representative, or the estate needs ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for probate
Gather the death certificate, the will (if any), and an inventory of the decedent’s assets to determine which path fits.
File the appropriate petition or application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent lived.
For informal probate, the court reviews the application and issues Letters of Authority appointing the personal representative, typically without a hearing.
The personal representative gathers and inventories assets, notifies and pays valid creditors, and – no earlier than 12 months after appointment – files a Sworn Closing Statement (PC 584) for informal probate, or a Petition for Complete Settlement (PC 585) followed by a court Order of Complete Settlement (PC 586) for formal administration.
What it costs
Michigan probate generally runs 7 to 18 months and costs roughly 3% to 7% of the estate’s value in typical cases.
Filing fees vary by petition type; a statutory inventory fee, set by MCL 600.871, is calculated based on the estate’s total value and applies to most probate filings.
Michigan does not require an attorney for probate, though many people use one for anything beyond a very simple estate.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
16 N. 3rd St., L'Anse, MI 49946
(906) 524-6177
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
16 N. 3rd St., L'Anse, MI 49946
(906) 524-6183
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
uphealthsystem.com (Marquette — accessible; major UP hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Baraga County Health Department – confirm current phone via baragacounty.org.
Baraga County Shelter Home (domestic violence services) – (906) 524-7078.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: L'Anse
Population: 8,500
Area: 1,070 sq mi
Established: 1875
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Baraga County residents.
