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History · Alpena Township

Alpena Township dates to 1840, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Alpena Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listings are the Thunder Bay Island Light Station, the Middle Island Light and the Alpena Light. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1880.

1840founded
3on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alpena Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alpena Township began

When was Alpena Township founded?

1840

Alpena Township dates its founding to 1840 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 6,153 in 18802020 census: 9,116186 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓

What stands out about Alpena Township’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 14,682 in 1960; 10,197 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Alpena Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1840: 186 years of Alpena Township.
★ What stands out · People over time

Alpena Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 14,682

Peaked at 14,682 in 1960; 10,197 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
AshlandLakeshore Estates Mobile Home ParkLakewoodRockportSunrise Estates Mobile Home Community
Gone or out of use
Baarlear Landing StripairportEast Side Post Officepost officeFussey Quarrymine

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

Timeline

Alpena Township, 1831 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831BuiltThunder Bay Island Light Station is built
  3. 1840
    FoundingAlpena Township is established
  4. 1875BuiltAlpena Light is built
  5. 1875Post officeThe East Side post office opens
  6. 1881Post officeThe East Side post office closes
  7. 1895In the archiveMaltz Block Postcard 1895
  8. 20th century
  9. 1905BuiltMiddle Island Light is built
  10. 1912In the archiveAlpena flyer
  11. 1930In the archiveX773 - Snow Scene
  12. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 14,682
  13. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Alpena Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alpena Township.

Read it all →

The Alpena area is home to the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi people. These people groups inhabit the area surrounding the Great Lakes, including Michigan. The Thunder Bay Band of Chippewa and Ottawa merged with the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians in the mid-1800s under Chief Way-ge-maw-waw-be.

Alpena County was originally set off from Michilimackinac County as Anamickee County founded in 1840, which in 1843 was changed to Alpena, a pseudo-Native American word — a neologism coined by Henry Schoolcraft, meaning something like "a good partridge country." This was part of a much larger effort to rename a great many of the Michigan counties at the time.

ChaptersHistorical markers

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Alpena Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s6 items
Maltz Block Postcard 18951895Maltz Block Postcard 1895PostcardAlpena flyer1912Alpena flyerLiberty Bonds - Public Gatherings - War Activities at Alpena, Michigan. Victory Loan drive1917Liberty Bonds - Public Gatherings - War Activities at…Liberty Bonds - Public Gatherings - War Activities at Alpena, Michigan. Victory Loan drive1917Liberty Bonds - Public Gatherings - War Activities at…Liberty Bonds - Public Gatherings - War Activities at Alpena, Michigan. Victory Loan drive1917Liberty Bonds - Public Gatherings - War Activities at…Recruiting and Draft Service - Registration [165-WW-480C-13]1917Recruiting and Draft Service - Registration [165-WW-4…
1930s1 item
X773 - Snow Scene1930sX773 - Snow ScenePostcard
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today12 recent
Laurentian in2012Laurentian inRed-spotted Purple butterfly2011Red-spotted Purple butterflyCardboard boat regatta 20112011Cardboard boat regatta 2011Greetings from Alpena, Michigan - Large Letter Postcard2011Greetings from Alpena, Michigan - Large Letter Postca…DocumentRV 5501 and RV 50022010RV 5501 and RV 5002RV 5002 and RV 55012010RV 5002 and RV 5501NOS vessel docked in2009NOS vessel docked inGreat Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail - first bend2009Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail - first bendGreat Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail - entrance2009Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail - entrancePost0278 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library2007Post0278 - Flickr - NOAA Photo LibraryMIMap-doton-Alpena2005MIMap-doton-AlpenaPennsylvania Air National Guard (PAANG) Technical Sergeant (TSGT) Bob Young, 271st Combat Communications Squadron (CBCS…2004Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PAANG) Technical Ser…
On the map

Alpena Township on the map, 1971 to 1984

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

Alpena Township on the 1971 USGS mapAlpena Township on the 1984 USGS map1971Alpena 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 Alpena Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Maltz Block Postcard 1895
Retake this viewMaltz Block Postcard 1895, 1895

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alpena Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Alpena Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Thunder Bay Island Light Station
Thunder Bay Island Light Station, built 1831Middle Island Light, built 1905Alpena Light, built 1875
BuildingsStructures
Thunder Bay Island Light StationBuilt 1831
Middle Island LightBuilt 1905
Alpena LightBuilt 1875

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Finish Alpena Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMaltz Block Postcard 1895: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Maple Ridge TownshipIts storyCSanborn TownshipIts storyC+Wilson TownshipIts storyC−Presque Isle Township3 historic placesB−

Questions about Alpena Township’s history

What year was Alpena Township founded?

In 1840, according to Wikidata. Alpena Township’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1880 counted 6,153 people here.

What is on the National Register in Alpena Township?

Three places: the Thunder Bay Island Light Station (listed 1984), the Middle Island Light (2006) and the Alpena Light (2006).

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 (19), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.