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Funds were set aside for a Thunder Bay Island lighthouse in 1830 and a lighthouse was successfully built by 1832. Maritime traffic exceeded land transportation at the time and the county was not set off until nearly a decade later in 1840. Alpena County was originally called Animickee after an Indian chief of the region. Michigan geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, Henry Schoolcraft later refabricated a name to Alpena. The land was originally surveyed in 1839 but Euro-Americans were slow to follow. The waters of Thunder Bay and Thunder River were prized fishing grounds for indigenous bands and the Native Americans were able to temporarily delay Euro-American settlement. Schooners began to transport settlers in the late 1850s to the mouth of the Thunder River where Alpena, the main city of the county, developed. Along with farming, the lumber industry thrived in the area from the 1870s to a post WWII decline. Fishing in the area retained its popularity for commercial and sport purposes. The county is a popular resort area with both winter and summer sports including shipwreck diving in the Thunder Bay Underwater Preserve where schooners once plied in the hundreds.
Boulton, William.
Complete history [of] Alpena County, Michigan. 1964.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F572.A4 B685 1964
History of the Lake Huron shore: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. 1883.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N Oversize F572.A15 H5 1883
Know your county: Alpena. 1971.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F572.A4 K58 1971
Oliver, David D.
Centennial history of Alpena County, Michigan: giving sketch of Michigan from its early settlement, fortunes and misfortunes of first settlers, the survey, settlement, and growth of Alpena County, from 1837 to 1876. 1968.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F572.A4 O4 1968
Waldron, George V.
Jule Chardin, or, The smugglers of Thunder Bay. 2007.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F572.A4 W366 2007
Alpena.
Alpena weekly argus. 1871-1893.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Alpena.
Alpena argus. 1893-1909.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Alpena.
Alpena argus-pioneer. 1893-1917.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Alpena.
Alpena evening news. 1899 - 1914.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Alpena.
Alpena frolic. 1875: June 1-1879: July.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Alpena.
Alpena news. 1914 - 2014.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Alpena.
Labor journal. 1885: Jan. 3-1890: Dec. 26.
LIB OF MICH MICROFILM NEWSPAPERS 2S
Farm & Home Publishers.
Alpena County, Michigan, 2007 plat book. 2007.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N G1413.A6 G46 F37 2007
Rockford Map Publishers.
Farm plat book with index to owners, Alpena County, Michigan. 1960.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N G 1413 .A6 R65 1960
Rockford Map Publishers.
Land plat book with index to owners, Alpena County, Michigan. 1967, 1970, 1973.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N G1413.A6 R65
W.S. McAlpine Map Co.
Map of Alpena County, Michigan. 1949.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN FLAT FILE 2N Undersize G4113.A6 1949. W3
Alpena County Fair: premium list. 1955, 1981.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N S555.M52 A5
Alpena County, Michigan sesquicentennial: history & families, 1857-2007. 2007.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F572.A4 A552 2007
Index of naturalization records at Alpena County Courthouse for the 26th Judicial Circuit, 1878-1978. 1980.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F 572 .A4 I53 1980
LaCross, Lorrie.
Cemetery records of Evergreen, Hebrew, and Grace Lutheran, Alpena, Michigan. 1999.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F574.A58 L33 1999
Stone inscriptions in Alpena County cemeteries. 1979.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F572.A4 S86 1979
Alpena County
Directories. 1963 - 1985
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N JS3.M52 A46z
Alpena County (Mich.). Board of Education.
Directory, Alpena County rural schools. 1959/1960.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N L163.A47 A47 1959/60
Knowing the Thunder Bay region: a guide to northeastern Michigan / compiled by workers of the Writers' program of the Work projects administration in the state of Michigan. Publication 1941.
LIB OF MICH MICHIGAN 2N F 572 .A15 W7
Michigan. Land Economic Survey Division.
Soil and lay of the land map of Alpena County / Michigan Department of Conservation, Land Economic Survey ; field work in cooperation with Michigan Agricultural College Experiment Station, Soils Section and U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Soils and Bureau of Plant Industry. 1924.
LIB OF MICH MICH DOCS FLAT FILE 2N G4113.A6J3 1924 .M5
U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity.
Community profile, Alpena County, Michigan. 1967.
LIB OF MICH US DOCS 4S PrEx 10.9/5:Al 6
Updated 11/16/2022