Livingston County, Michigan
county in Michigan, United States
Livingston County ( LIV-ing-stən) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, its population was 193,866. It is part of the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat and most populous city is Howell. The county was platted in 1833, but for three years remained assigned to Shiawassee and Washtenaw counties for revenue, taxation, and judicial matters. It was formally organized in 1836. As one of Michigan's "Cabinet counties", a group of ten counties whose names honor members of President Andrew Jackson's cabinet, it is named after former U.S. Secretary of State Edward Livingston. Livingston County's location in Southeast Michigan offers residents relatively convenient access to the metropolitan centers of Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Flint. Livingston County residents regularly commute to those centers, using the three major expressways that pass through the county: I-96, US 23, and M-59. Though largely composed of bedroom communities, the county is experiencing and maintaining significant growth in both the service and industrial economic sectors.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Livingston County, Michigan” as county in Michigan, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as county in Michigan, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q502732. VIAF identifies the subject as 150090378. The Library of Congress control number is n81092464. Authority coordinates are 42.600, -83.910. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1833 and 1836.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Livingston County, Michigan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Livingston County, Michigan primary sources, Livingston County, Michigan archive and Livingston research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Livingston County, Michigan”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Livingston County, Michigan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.