Newberry, MI

Newberry is the village and county seat of Luce County in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula. Founded in 1882, it became the county seat when Luce County separated from Chippewa County in 1887, and its first courthouse was completed in 1890. The village is surrounded by state and national forests and sits on the southern approach to the Tahquamenon Falls area. Michigan legislators later gave Newberry the title “Moose Capital of Michigan,” a name that fits the deep-woods country around town.

The Luce County Historical Museum occupies the former sheriff's house, one of the Victorian-era buildings preserved after the old courthouse was lost. Tahquamenon Area Schools serves the entire county from a main campus in Newberry, so the village functions as a school center as well as a government center. The 2020 census counted 1,446 residents. Forest roads, courthouse history, moose stories, and the route toward Tahquamenon Falls all meet in Newberry, giving the village a distinctly Upper Peninsula sense of place.