Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Alpena Bathhouse and Swimming Pool. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1900.
The Alpena post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alpena’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alpena. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alpena.
Peaked at 576 in 1920; 212 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alpena’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Alpena.
Alpena was platted in 1883, and most likely was named after Alpena, Michigan, the native home of the town's proprietor. A post office has been in operation at Alpena since 1883.
On June 18th, 2014, an EF4 tornado formed south of Alpena and destroyed a farmhouse just south of town. One person was injured and a pet was killed due to falling debris.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Alpena, cut from the printed page as they were published.
that purpose. The new house was built on the east side of 3rd street opposite the Universalist church, by Mr. C. P. Christensen, and the school took possession of it Dec. 18th. The old school house was sold for $151 to the German Lutheran church of Alpena and Franklin townships, who moved and used it for religious purposes. After the founding of the town of Lane the old school house was moved to that place, where it is still in use as a church.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
W . L. Arnold, who had been in the mercantile business in the now deserted village in Sanborn county brought to Alpena a store buildingwhich he used that winter for a store, and in which Mr. Jessup, the first postmaster in Alpena, opened the post office about the middle of December. The building has since been used for a drug store, first by Dr. D.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The Alpena post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Alpena Bathhouse and Swimming Pool (listed 2000).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2004