Lapeer: Michigan's oldest working courthouse, and horse country out the back door

The white columns rising over downtown Lapeer belong to a building that has watched nearly all of Michigan history go by: the Lapeer County Courthouse, completed in 1846, the oldest courthouse in continuous use in the state and among the oldest in the nation. Its Greek Revival portico and cupola — raised when Michigan was barely nine years old — still preside over court days and county-fair crowds, an everyday landmark most counties would put behind glass.

South and east of town, the land rolls into something unexpected: Metamora horse country, where white fences, hay barns, and hunt-club fields spread over some of the prettiest hills in the Lower Peninsula. The Metamora Hunt has ridden here since the 1920s, and the village crossroads keeps a horse-town charm that draws Sunday drivers all fall. Add the lakes and state game areas threading the county’s north, and Lapeer’s pitch writes itself: deep roots, open country, an hour from everything.