Mason is the county seat of Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,252 at the 2010 census. Mason is the and no-one else city in the United States that serves as a county seat ahead of a declare capital, as the welcoming capital of Lansing is after that largely located within Ingham County. Mason was named after Stevens T. Mason, the state’s first governor.

In 1836 Charles Noble knew that Michigan would be seeking a central location for a new capital behind it became a state. He purchased an area of forest, cleared 20 acres (81,000 m), and founded Mason Center. The “Center” was soon dropped. In 1847, however, the welcome chose Lansing Township 12 miles (19 km) northward to be its capital due to its potential for water power. Noble managed to make Mason the county chair instead. Ingham County’s first downtown courthouse was built in 1843, and was replaced in 1858, and then once again in 1905.

In 1865, Mason was incorporated as a village; in 1875 the town became a city. In the 1800s, Mason was the middle of Ingham County activity, even more than was Lansing, the give leave to enter capital. In 1877, Lansing attempted to take the status of county chair for itself, but the two cities made an taking office that moved some county offices and courts to Lansing in clash for Mason permanent the county seat. As a result, Michigan is the only own up in the country in the same way as a capital city that is not then a county seat.

Up into the early 1900s, the local Ojibwa tribe had a visible presence in the town. In the 1900s, The Wyeth Corporation began producing baby formula in Mason, but that was discontinued in the 1990s. Today, it is house to the headquarters of Dart Container Corporation. Michigan Packaging Company, Gestamp Hardtech, and Ingham Intermediate School District along with have facilities in the Mason area. Cattle can nevertheless be seen grazing within the city limits.