This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. Years ago, dozens of Michigan towns waged pitch battles with each other. What was at stake? Land claims? A new factory? A school? Sports rivalry? No. Possession of the county seat of government. Becoming the county seat meant prestige for a town. The county seat had the county courthouse and county jail. Elected officials, lawyers and judges, people registering documents, all came to the county seat. While there, they spent money in town. A county seat meant prosperity. In Kalamazoo county, the town of Compton lost its battle for the county seat to Bronson. Bronson prospered and became Kalamazoo. Compton faded into obscurity in Benzie County. Benzonia and Frankfort fought for the county seat for decades. The Town of Honor finally claimed it in 1908, but in 1916, it moved to the hamlet of Beulah, where it remains today. Counties sometimes established a temporary county seat, but that only set up a political brawl in Tuscola county, in Michigan's Thumb area. Vassar was made the county seat, but only until 1860. Hartz, Ketchum, Platt, Moonshine, Vassar and Centerville all fought for the prize. Moonshine won. But a week later, officials changed their minds and the county seat went to Centerville instead. Centerville became Carroll. All but one of the other towns dried up and vanished. In Lapeer county, the fight was not between two towns, but between two factions of the same town. Residents of different areas of Lapeer wanted the county seat for their own part of town. The two factions each built courthouses. One courthouse burned in a mysterious fire, but its promoters quickly rebuilt and succeeded in capturing the county seat for their part of town. Residents of a town that coveted the county seat would sometimes arrange to have it placed in a small, insignificant hamlet in hopes of wresting it away later in the thumbs. Huron county, the county seat, originally went to sand beach, now Harbor Beach. In 1859, when the courthouse burned, Bad Axe officials got the county seat temporarily moved to Port Austin so that they could try to grab it later for themselves. In 1873, county officials transferred it permanently to Bad Axe. Were the county seat wars worth the rancor? Probably they were. Many towns that lost those wars are ghost towns today. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org Sam.