Welcome to West Branch ...

The city of West Branch is located in Ogemaw County<1> and is the County Seat for Ogemaw County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of West Branch, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

A typical abbreviation for West Branch: W. Branch

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, West Branch has a population of 2,051 people<2> (see below for details).

West Branch is 940 feet [287 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: West Branch lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The area code for West Branch: (989)

The ZIP code for West Branch: 48661<4>

Websites for West Branch ...

Official Website: www.westbranch.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, West Branch had an population of 2,051 people. This is a decrease of 4.11% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 6.49% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, West Branch had a population of 2,139 people (which is 9.86% of the total population of Ogemaw County). This makes West Branch the county's most populous community.

The population of West Branch represents 0.02% of the population of Michigan (which has 9,883,640 people), making it the state's 240th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,139 people, the population of West Branch increased 11.06% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,926 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for West Branch.

Communities Also Named West Branch ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Michigan communities named West Branch: This one is located in Ogemaw County and the other is located in Marquette County.

Beyond Michigan, there are 9 communities that are also named West Branch - they are located in California, Iowa, New Brunswick, New York, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Branch.

Communities near West Branch ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near West Branch.

• Rose City
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
  • Rose City is located in Ogemaw County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rose City <6>
• Prescott
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
  • Prescott is located in Ogemaw County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prescott <6>
• Campbells Corners
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbells Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
  • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
• Saint Helen
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Helen
  • Saint Helen is located in Roscommon County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Helen <6>
• Fayettes Corner ‑ Historic
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayettes Corner
  • Fayettes Corner is located in Ogemaw County
• Skidway Lake
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skidway Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidway Lake
  • Skidway Lake is located in Ogemaw County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skidway Lake <6>
• Damon
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
  • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
• Lupton
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lupton
  • Lupton is located in Ogemaw County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lupton <6>
• Sugar Rapids
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Rapids
  • Sugar Rapids is located in Gladwin County
• Long Lake
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
  • Long Lake is located in Iosco County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Lake <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around West Branch. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for West Branch.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of West Branch. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Branch.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around West Branch. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for West Branch.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for West Branch ...

Looking for more information about West Branch? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for West Branch, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for West Branch.

Adding West Branch to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of West Branch in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for West Branch was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found West Branch on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Michigan (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for West Branch.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for West Branch: www.westbranch.com/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/