HARRISVILLE, MICHIGAN

'Harrisville' is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 514. It is the county seat of Alcona County⁶. The city is surrounded by Harrisville Township, but is politically independent.
The place was first known as "Davison's Mill" after Crosier Davison, who in partnership with Simeon Holden, had purchased land and water power rights here in 1854. Benjamin Harris and his sons, Levi and Henry, of West Bloomfield, New York. A post office established in 1857 was named Harrisville, after the family operations. It was platted in 1870, incorporated as a village in 1887, and as a city in 1905. ^[1]
Each Labor Day there is a giant craft show, parade, barbershop quartet meeting.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Notable residents

References

External links

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²), all land.
The city is on the western shore of Lake Huron and has a harbor for recreational boaters. It also boasts Harrisville State Park, which includes a wooded campground right along the beach. US 23 passes through the city and the eastern terminus of M-72 is at a junction with US 23 in the downtown.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 514 people, 239 households, and 131 families residing in the city. The population density was 320.1/km² (831.2/mi²). There were 327 housing units at an average density of 203.6/km² (528.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.94% White, 2.14% African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.97% Asian, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population.
There were 239 households out of which 18.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.8% were non-families. 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.92 and the average family size was 2.57.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.0% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 21.6% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 29.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,500, and the median income for a family was $34,286. Males had a median income of $23,625 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,983. About 9.3% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

Harrisville is home to the legal offices of Pam Burt, attorney who in 2005 succeeded in getting the Michigan Supreme Court to throw out an appellate court's decision that had equated wayward beach walking to trespassing. In the 2005 case, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that the public generally has a right to walk along Michigan's 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, so long as people don't trespass on private property.
And, in a 5-2 vote, judges said the public is allowed to stroll from the water's edge to the ordinary high-water mark.
The Harrisville-based Ms. Burt argued that such strolls are protected under the U.S. Supreme Court's public trust doctrine, provided they are on public sand. The doctrine declares certain natural resources, such as lake water, in the public trust because they're too valuable to be privately owned. In that case, she argued that deeds take a back seat to that doctrine.^[2]
Harrisville is also the summer home of author and screenwriter Judith Guest

References

1. Michigan Place Names, , Walter, Romig, Wayne State University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8143-1838-X
2. Text of Opinion: Glass v. Goeckel Michigan Supreme Court (Lansing, Michigan) July 2005

External links

★ Harrisville Harbor