Ludington is in Mason County (of which it is the county seat), and in the West-Southwest Region. This community is located northwest of Grand Rapids along US Highway 10 on the banks of the Pere Marquette River near Hamlin Lake. Also situated on the shore of Lake Michigan. Ludington was named after James Ludington, an investor who purchased much of the timberland in the region and built a saw mill here in the mid 1860s. The town was officially platted in 1867 and organized as a city in 1873. In 1897, Ludington started an extensive convoy of ferry boats for lumber and auto transport - and has remained the last city on Lake Michigan maintaining car ferry service to Wisconsin. Today, Ludington is a popular tourist location, not only for the ferry service, but also because of the dunes and state park to the north near Big Sauble Point.