Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in West Branch, MI

West Branch is a city and the county seat of Ogemaw County in northern Michigan — the largest incorporated settlement in the county — and it uses the motto 'Up North. Down Home.'

The city originated in 1875 as a station on a northerly extension of the Michigan Central Railroad, and was named for its location near the west branch of the Rifle River, which flows toward Saginaw Bay.

West Branch beat out nearby Ogemaw Springs to officially become the county seat in 1876; it incorporated as a village in 1885 and as a city in 1905.

West Branch had 2,351 residents in the 2020 census, up from 2,139 in 2010, packed into just 1.53 square miles — all of it land.

The city had 1,126 households in 2020, and unusually, nearly half of them (49.3%) were made up of individuals living alone.

West Branch skews older than most Michigan towns: 25.1% of its residents were 65 or older in 2020, and the median age was 42.6 years.

The city grew explosively in its first railroad decade, jumping from just 139 residents in 1880 to 1,302 in 1890.

Downtown West Branch runs along Houghton Avenue on Business Loop I-75; M-30 reaches its northern terminus in the city, and M-55 crosses the Lower Peninsula from Manistee to Tawas City through town.

Students attend West Branch–Rose City Area Schools, and Ogemaw Heights High School — home of the Falcons — serves both West Branch and Rose City.

Post-secondary education in the area is provided by Kirtland Community College, and the city's hospital is MyMichigan Medical Center – West Branch.