Sanilac County is part of Michigan's Thumb, located less than two hours from Detroit and 30 miles north of Port Huron. The county has 42 miles of lakeshore, 2 local airports, and less than an hour from 2 interstate highways.
As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,114. The county seat is Sandusky. The county was created on September 10, 1822, and was fully organized in 1848. It occupies a total area of 1,590 square miles.
The Thumb Region of Michigan is a subregion of the Flint/Tri-Cities area. Sanilac County enjoys seasonable tourism in towns such as Lexington, Port Sanilac and Carsonville. Sanilac County is economically attached to St. Clair county and Huron County and has very fertile, flat land.
Sanilac County was probably named for a Wyandot (Huron) chief named Sanilac.
In the middle of the 19th century, the area now called Port Sanilac was called Bark Shanty. It was named for a lone shanty made of bark, which was used to make shingles from pine. The Algonquin word "zngwak" means pine. Sanilac County was named for Chief Sanilac, who was Wyandotte. The county seat of Sanilac is the city of Sandusky.