Cheers Lapeer Pub440 N Saginaw St, Lapeer, MI 48446
Metro Detroit Lapeer County City
Lapeer
Michigan's oldest working courthouse and a summer festival over a century old
- People (2025 estimate)
- 9,201
- Land area
- 7.3 sq mi · 19.0 km²
- From downtown
- 51.3 miles · 83 km · north
- Incorporated
- 1869
Nothing on our calendar here this week yet.
01 / Why it matters
Why Lapeer matters
Lapeer is the Lapeer County seat, east of Flint on the Flint River. Alvin N. Hart arrived in 1831 and platted the village on November 8, 1833, while the White family started the western half as Whitesville; a tamarack swamp originally separated the two.
Downtown's pride is the white Greek Revival courthouse on Courthouse Square: built in 1846, it's the oldest courthouse in Michigan still in continuous use. Early 20th-century cupolas decorate the Nepessing Street business district, and the old homes and churches of neighboring Piety Hill form a National Register historic district.
Lapeer County is part of the six-county Detroit–Warren–Dearborn metro area, so Lapeer is officially Metro Detroit, on its northern, rural edge, close to Flint and the Thumb. Amtrak's Blue Water, running between Chicago and Port Huron, stops here too.
02 / Known for
What Lapeer is known for
The Lapeer County Courthouse, built by Alvin N. Hart in 1846, bought by the county for $3,000 in 1853, and on the National Register since 1971.
Lapeer Days, the August town festival and a tradition of more than 124 years.
Piety Hill, the historic district of old homes, churches and community buildings next to downtown.
Founder Alvin N. Hart, who as a state senator helped move Michigan's capital from Detroit to Lansing.
03 / What’s on
What’s on in Lapeer
Nothing on our calendar in Lapeer right now. Try the neighbors:
04 / Places
3 places on our site in Lapeer
Cheers Lapeer Pub440 N Saginaw St, Lapeer, MI 4844605 / What to do
If you’re in Lapeer
Lapeer County Courthouse
The white, columned courthouse on Courthouse Square; the county historical society displays vintage furnishings inside.
Official site ↗Downtown Lapeer & Piety Hill
Walk Nepessing Street past the cupola-topped flowerbeds, then up among the old houses of Piety Hill.
Official site ↗Lapeer Train Depot
The depot built in 1900 and restored to its early look in 2004, the only Amtrak stop between Port Huron and Flint.
Official site ↗Marguerite deAngeli Library
The Carnegie-funded library that opened in 1923 and was renamed in 1981 for the Lapeer-born, Newbery-winning author.
Official site ↗
06 / History
Lapeer through the years
- 1831
Alvin N. Hart, the first settler, arrives.
- 1833
Hart plats the village of Lapeer on November 8; the town's first church is organized the same year.
- 1846
Hart builds the courthouse still in use today; court is first held there in April 1847.
- 1869
Lapeer is incorporated as a city on March 30, and the first mayor is elected on April 5.
- 1879
The White family's opera house is moved piece by piece near the courthouse; today it's the White Block.
- 1923
The Carnegie library, today's Marguerite deAngeli Library, opens.
07 / People
Famous names from here
- Marguerite de Angeli the children's author and illustrator was born here in 1889 and won the Newbery Medal for The Door in the Wall
- Alvin N. Hart the town's founder and first settler, later a state senator
Sources
Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Lapeer city).
- 2020 Census, Michigan (PL 94-171)
- Census Bureau population estimates: cities and towns
- ci.lapeer.mi.us/history1.php
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapeer,_Michigan
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapeer_County_Courthouse
- www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/geographies/reference-files/2023/delineation-files/list1_2023.xlsx
- lapeerdays.com
- ci.lapeer.mi.us/parks_and_recreation/train_depot.php
- commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marguerite_deAngeli_Library_Lapeer_Michigan_2019-2457.jpg
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_de_Angeli
- ci.lapeer.mi.us
Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: +1.7 percent.
Save the plan. Share the moment.
