Isabella County, Michigan

Isabella County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 70,311. Its county seat is Mt. Pleasant. The area was known as Ojibiway Besse, meaning "the place of the Chippewa". It was set off as a county in 1831, and county government organized in 1859. It was named after Queen Isabella I of Castile, based on a suggestion by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, US Indian Agent and ethnologist.

Isabella County comprises the Mount Pleasant, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area in Mid-Michigan, also known as Central Michigan. Within the county is located Isabella Indian Reservation, which has a total area of 217.67 square miles (563.8 km²). It is the major land base of the federally recognized Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation. Part of the county seat of Mount Pleasant is located within the reservation.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 578 square miles (1,500 km²), of which 573 square miles (1,480 km²) is land and 5.0 square miles (13 km²) (0.9%) is water.