West Branch, Michigan

West Branch became the seat of Ogemaw County by a single vote, and that narrow margin made all the difference. The county was re-created in eighteen seventy-three after an earlier attempt dissolved into Iosco County, and when residents voted on a county seat location, West Branch edged out the rival community of Ogemaw Springs by one ballot. The loser faded away.

West Branch boomed: hotels, restaurants, and businesses followed the courthouse, and a strong brick commercial district rose along the main streets. A Michigan Central extension reached the area in eighteen seventy-five, bringing the first homesteaders and making the county accessible. Lumbering drove the early economy.

Today West Branch markets itself as a gateway to the Au Sable River watershed and sits astride Interstate Seventy-Five in the heart of northern Michigan.