Michigan Porch

Mason County, Michigan

Use this county page to find the right government office or narrow down to a city or township. The service directory covers common county jobs; the local pages add property-tax context, school-district rate ranges, nearby places, and Porch Notes tied to each community.

County snapshot

Cities

2

Townships

15

School districts

11

Primary home (PRE) rates, for homes with Michigan's Principal Residence Exemption, range from 16.3613 mills to 42.9634 mills.

Other property, often called non-homestead, usually means rentals, vacation homes, and second homes. Those rates range from 16.3613 mills to 60.9634 mills.

Rate rows come from the official Michigan Treasury millage-rate reports . Data used: 2025 Michigan Treasury Total Property Tax Rates. Last reviewed July 12, 2026.

Use this carefully: Michigan Porch uses the statewide published rates as a planning aid. The local assessor or treasurer controls parcel-specific values, due dates, and special assessments.

County service directory

Find the office before you make the trip

Some questions stay with the city or township. Others move to the county, a health district, or a court. Start with the job you need done, then confirm hours, fees, and forms with the office.

Official Mason County website

County websites are checked against the State of Michigan county website directory . State and court finders are used where one office or district can serve more than one county. Directory reviewed July 12, 2026. Office roles were checked against Michigan Vital Records, Michigan Treasury taxpayer resources, and State Tax Commission guidance.

Local pages

Places in Mason County

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Porch Notes

Local notes from Mason County

Stories, practical notes, and local details tied to places in this county.

Mason County · History and culture

White Pine Village: a frontier town rebuilt under the pines

Two miles south of Ludington, Historic White Pine Village brings together more than 30 buildings and exhibits from Mason County's past.

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Mason County · Outdoors

Ludington's breakwater light, built to take a beating

The steel pyramidal lighthouse at the end of Ludington's pier was built in 1924 to shrug off Lake Michigan's waves — and it now leans a few degrees from a 1990s settling.

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Mason County · History and culture

Scottville got its name on a coin flip

Scottville was renamed in the 1880s when two businessmen flipped a coin on a downtown corner; Hiram Scott won the toss and put his own name on the town.

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Mason County · History and culture

Custer, Michigan, and the year Custer fell

The Mason County community took George Armstrong Custer's name in 1876, the year he died at Little Bighorn; the surrounding township followed in 1878.

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Mason County · History and culture

Epworth Heights: the Methodist summer colony on the dunes

On the dunes north of Ludington, Epworth Heights is a private Methodist summer colony founded in 1894, now hundreds of cottages run under an 1889 state resort law.

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Mason County · History and culture

Free Soil, Michigan, is named for an antislavery party

Free Soil Township was named in 1848 for the Free Soil Party, the antislavery movement whose slogan was 'free soil, free labor, free men' — years before the Civil War.

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Browse all 19 Mason County notes →

Next steps

What to check next in Mason County

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