Monroe County history

The final boundaries for Wayne County were established in 1826.

In 1830 there were 12 counties in Michigan, Michilimackinac then having the largest land area.

In response to the canal’s success, construction of another canal that would connect the fertile land to the south along the Genesee River to the Erie Canal was begun in 1837.

A second aqueduct, built in 1842, now supports the Broad Street Bridge.

The 1850 Constitution reaffirmed most of the patterns that had developed to that point, added the prosecutor as an elected official, and deleted the coroner and surveyor from the list.

There still remains, in the County Clerk's Office, some of the partially burned records, and some records dating back to 1856, which are still legible and are used for historical facts.

The present courthouse was built in 1880, and there have since been three additions.

Begun in 1894, the third courthouse (current County Office Building) celebrated its centennial with the creation of an exhibit on its history.

The airport's history begins in 1928, when it was originally founded in Southeast Rochester by Drs.

In 1929, Rochester Airport was dedicated and Northwest Airlines added it to their routes.

Aerial view of Rochester Airport, August 1931 / Courtesy History Center of Olmsted County

The first was built in 1954 directly behind the structure along Washington Street.

The Johnson-Phinney home was purchased with other adjacent property in 1960 and was then known as the Courthouse Annex.

The 1973 Optional Unified County Forms Act has led to the election of county executives in Oakland and Bay Counties.

And revisions in the county home rule legislation in 1980 paved the way for the formation of the first charter county in the county of Wayne.

And revisions in the county home rule legislation in 1980 paved the way for the formation of the first charter county in the county of Wayne. Thus, the first elected executive under a county charter took office with the beginning of 1983.

In 1988, American Airlines began service to Chicago.

The County Reapportionment Board will have the opportunity in 2002 to change the number of county legislators (commissioners), a process that occurs only once every decade following the census.