Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Alcona Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Alcona Township

Half of Alcona Township’s homes were built after 1974

Most of Alcona Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1960.

0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Alcona Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Alcona Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Alcona Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alcona Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alcona Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Ritchie, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Black River
1877–today
Ritchie
1892–1904
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Black RiverLarson BeachLost Lake Woods
Gone or out of use
Ritchie Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Alcona Township
Calvary

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Alcona Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alcona Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Haynes Township is a civil township of Alcona County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 653 at the 2020 census.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 968 in 2010, 966 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alcona Township, 1877 to 1971

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Black River post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Ritchie post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Ritchie post office closes
  6. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alcona Township, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Haynes Township, MI location22019Haynes Township, MI location2Haynes Township, MI location2018Haynes Township, MI locationBailey School (Alcona County, MI)2018Bailey School (Alcona County, MI)
On the map

Alcona Township on the map, 1971 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alcona Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alcona Township on the 1971 USGS mapAlcona Township on the 1983 USGS map1971Spruce sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alcona Township.

People over time

Alcona Township, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020Peak: 724

Between 368 and 724 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alcona Township’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alcona Township

Nobody well known was born in Alcona Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Michael Bailey SmithAmerican actor · b. 1957
S
Stanley GrenzAmerican theologian · b. 1950
Lucille F. StickelAmerican wildlife toxicologist · b. 1915
Donald B. DuncanUnited States admiral · b. 1896
William ComstockAmerican politician · b. 1877
Frank D. ScottAmerican politician · b. 1878
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Caledonia TownshipIts storyCHawes TownshipIts storyCHaynes Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLost Lake WoodsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSanborn TownshipIts storyC+Mitchell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alcona Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.