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Michigan · Great Lakes Bay Region · #402
Midland County, Michigan
Dow Chemical built its global headquarters in Midland, and for more than a century the company and the county have been so thoroughly intertwined that separating their histories is essentially impossible - a company town that became a prosperous, culturally sophisticated small city because of it.
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Office: Midland County Emergency Management – 2727 Rodd St, Midland, MI 48640 | (989) 832-6750; Emergency Information Hotline (TELLMOR): 1-888-835-5667 (recorded messages); 211 also available for general inquiries.
Midland County Central Dispatch Authority – housed at the Midland Law Enforcement Center, 2727 Rodd St, Midland, MI 48640.
Sheriff: Midland County Sheriff’s Office – 2727 Rodd St, Midland, MI 48640 | (989) 839-4630; Sheriff Scott Holzinger (lifelong Midland County resident, Saginaw Valley State University B.A. in Criminal Justice; began as a part-time Marine Patrol Deputy, later Detective Bureau before election as Sheriff); Jail (989) 832-6612.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-10 and M-20 serve the City of Midland, the county seat, in Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region.
Notes: Midland is part of Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region alongside neighboring communities.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Midland County Services Building – 220 W. Ellsworth Street, Midland, MI 48640.
Notes: Midland is genuinely the founding home of the Dow Chemical Company, established in 1897 by Herbert Henry Dow, whose family later created Dow Gardens – a 110-acre botanical garden that began in 1899 as an 8-acre home garden. The gardens’ Whiting Forest, a 54-acre addition gifted by Dow’s granddaughter Helen Dow Whiting and her husband Macauley in a donation to the city (opened to the public in 2004), now features the Canopy Walk: at roughly 1,400 feet and reaching four stories into the treetops, it is the longest canopy walkway in the United States, part of a $20 million, four-year Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation project completed in 2018. A more-than-100-year-old apple tree planted by Herbert Dow himself still stands and bears fruit in the forest’s orchard.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Midland County Veterans Services – 220 W. Ellsworth Street, Midland, MI 48640 | (989) 832-6797 | Fax (989) 832-6259; Director Bridgette M. Gransden, CPA, CGFM. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Midland-area public library address/phone via midlandcountymi.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Dow Gardens and the Whiting Forest Canopy Walk, the Herbert H. Dow House (“The Pines”), and the historic Alden Dow House are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “longest canopy walk in America” distinction and Dow Chemical’s founding legacy are among the most notable local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Midland County Equalization Department – confirm current contact via midlandcountymi.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Humane Society of Midland County (HSoMC) – 4371 East Ashman Street, Midland, MI 48642 | (989) 835-1877 | Email: [email protected]; a no-kill 501(c)(3) shelter, the only animal shelter in Midland County, operating since 2011 (took over from county Animal Control); receives no government funding; placed 1,608 animals in 2025 alone (over 4 per day on average). Hours: currently 12-7 PM (confirm current schedule).
Midland County Animal Control (kennel licensing) – (989) 832-6856.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Midland County – confirm current contact via midlandcountymi.gov.
NOTES: Midland County is the second county in the ninth batch of the Michigan v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine “longest canopy walk in America” distinction and Dow Chemical’s founding legacy are among the most notable 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 Midland County
Midland, Michigan is one of the most unusual small cities in America – a community of fewer than 42,000 people that hosts the global headquarters of Dow Inc., one of the world’s largest chemical companies. Herbert Henry Dow founded the Dow Chemical Company in Midland in 1897, and the company has never left. The relationship between Dow and Midland is totalizing in the way that few corporate-community relationships remain in the twenty-first century: the Dow Diamond, the Alden B. Dow Architecture Museum, the Tridge (a three-way pedestrian bridge over the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa rivers), and the Midland Center for the Arts all carry the mark of Dow family philanthropy. The Alden Dow Home and Studio, designed by Herbert Dow’s son – a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice – is a National Historic Landmark.
The company’s presence gives Midland an income level and cultural infrastructure wildly disproportionate to its population. The school system is excellent; the per-capita income is among Michigan’s highest outside the suburban Detroit ring; and the arts and entertainment offerings exceed what comparably sized communities can sustain without corporate patronage. Midland County is not without challenges – some of the communities outside the city of Midland are more economically typical of rural mid-Michigan – but the Dow anchor makes Midland County a genuine outlier in the state’s small-county landscape.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Michigan’s Proposal A limits annual taxable value increases to 5% or CPI (whichever is lower); the taxable value resets to state equalized value (50% of market) when the property transfers. The Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) removes 18 mills from the school operating levy for owner-occupied primary residences. Assessment disputes go first to the March Board of Review, then to the Michigan Tax Tribunal within 35 days for residential property. Midland County tax rates vary by school district, typically $22–$35 mills – among the lower ranges in mid-Michigan, reflecting the strong Dow-anchored commercial tax base. Michigan has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Midland County Council on Aging
4700 Eastman Avenue, Suite 1, Midland, MI 48642
Phone: (989) 839-9680
Senior centers, Meals on Wheels, transportation, in-home aide coordination, caregiver support, and long-term care referrals for Midland County residents.
Senior Services
Midland County Council on Aging
4700 Eastman Avenue, Suite 1, Midland, MI 48642
Phone: (989) 839-9680
Senior centers, Meals on Wheels, transportation, in-home aide coordination, caregiver support, and long-term care referrals for Midland County residents.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
220 W. Ellsworth St., Midland, MI 48640
(989) 832-6739
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Midland County Probate Court (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Midland 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
Midland County Probate Court Midland County Courthouse, 301 W. Main Street, Midland, MI 48640 (989) 832-6700 Midland County is in central Michigan, seated in Midland, headquarters of Dow Chemical Company.
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 $50,000-$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
2727 Rodd St., Midland, MI 48640
(989) 839-4600
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
220 W. Ellsworth St., Midland, MI 48640
(989) 832-6739
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MI DHHS — Central Region
(989) 837-2000
MyMichigan Medical Center Midland
mymichigan.org (Midland — quality regional hospital; major Mid-Michigan anchor)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Midland County Health Department – confirm current phone via midlandcountymi.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Midland
Population: 83,000
Area: 528 sq mi
Established: 1850
Tier: 3
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Midland County facilities via Amazon.
