Alpena County Courthouse - Alpena Michigan

Alpena ( ') is the only city and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Alpena County, Michigan Alpena County ( ') is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,907. The county seat is Alpena. It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan. Alpena County comprises the Alpena, MI Micropolit ...

, United States. The population was 10,197 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populated city in the

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...

region, after Traverse City and

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

. The city is surrounded by Alpena Township, but the two are administered autonomously. It is the core city of the Alpena micropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Alpena County and had a total population of 28,907 at the 2020 census. Alpena is located at the head of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

, a bay of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

. Offshore of Alpena is the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which protects an estimated 116 historically significant shipwrecks. Alpena is the third-largest American city on Lake Huron, behind Bay City and Port Huron.

History

The Alpena area is home to the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, and

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

people. These people groups inhabit the area surrounding the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, including Michigan. The Thunder Bay Band of Chippewa and Ottawa merged with the

Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians The Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians is a nonprofit organization and an unrecognized tribe. Located in Michigan, the Mackinac Band identifies as descendants of Bands 11-17 of Ojibwe and Odawa. The organization is headquartered in ...

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 In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

coined by

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi ...

, 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. The first European settler at modern-day Alpena was W.F. Cullings, a fisherman in 1835. In 1856, George W. Fletcher and three others from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

platted a village by the name of Fremont, after

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

. The community was briefly renamed Thunder Bay in 1857 before being renamed again to Alpena in 1871. The city of Alpena was officially incorporated by Michigan State Legislature on March 29, 1871. Most of the city was lost in the

Great Michigan Fire The Great Michigan Fire was a series of simultaneous forest fires in the state of Michigan in the United States in 1871. They were possibly caused (or at least reinforced) by the same winds that fanned the Great Chicago Fire, the Peshtigo Fire ...

of 1871. Less than one year later, on July 12, 1872, Alpena was hit by another fire, the largest in its history, which destroyed of homes and businesses for a total amount of 65 buildings. The blaze started in a barn and lasted for two hours, killing at least four people and causing at least in damages. pp. 52–55. Alpena was again hit by a disastrous fire on July 11, 1888. In the early 1910s a failed attempt was led by the Alpena Motor Car Company to turn the city into "Automobile City" and compete with

. In 1920 the population of the city was 11,101, and in 1927 the trade through the city's port was valued over 8 million dollars, and the output of the 24 factories at a little under another 8 million. The city has a number of notable buildings, including the

Art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Alpena County Courthouse, the I.O.O.F. Centennial Building, and Temple Beth El, one of the

oldest synagogues in the United States Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

Historical markers

There are seven recognized historical markers in the city: * Alpena City Hall * Alpena County Courthouse * The Daniel Carter Family, Alpena's first settlers. * First Congregational Church * Monarch Mill * St. Bernard Catholic Church * World's Largest Cement Plant (see Lafarge)

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and (7.48%) is water. The city is on the shore of

, with Alpena Township surrounding it on land.

Climate

Alpena has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

( Dfb) with warm summers along with cool nights, moderated by nearby

and cold, snowy winters with annual snowfall averaging 84 inches (210 cm).

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 10,483 people, 4,734 households, and 2,565 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 5,278 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.1% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.0% of the population. There were 4,734 households, of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.8% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age in the city was 42.5 years. 20.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.7% were from 25 to 44; 27.9% were from 45 to 64; and 19.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 11,304 people, 4,874 households, and 2,865 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,200 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.66%

, 0.42%

, 0.43% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.01%

, 0.09% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population. There were 4,874 households, out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were

living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.0% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,353, and the median income for a family was $40,056. Males had a median income of $34,534 versus $21,951 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $17,476. About 10.4% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

While tourism is an important component of the area's economy, both Alpena and Rogers City have an industrial base. In particular, Alpena is home to Lafarge-Holcim cement plant and to Besser Company (maker of a concrete block making machinery), as well as a drywall board manufacturing facility owned by Decorative Panels International. Rogers City is the location of the world's largest

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

quarry (see Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company), which is used in

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

making in the Great Lakes and

Rust Belt The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...

regions. MidMichigan Health, a federally-designated rural regional medical referral center, is the largest employer in the city of Alpena. Until it largely closed in 2022, Alpena's primary shopping center was the Alpena Mall, the only enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. In full operation, the former mall featured approximately 20 stores, with

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

and Gordon Food Service as the

anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...

s. Other retailers operate in this part of town and on M-32 west of town and south on US-23. Alpena was also home to the Alpena Thunder hockey team, which was disbanded in 2011.

Culture

Cardboard boat regatta 2011 Alpena Michigan

Alpena is served by a number of institutions that enhance the artistic and cultural character of the city, reflecting its rich heritage in Great Lakes shipping and industry. Alpena is the gateway to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, one of Michigan's 13 underwater preserves. The cold, fresh waters of the Great Lakes serve a valuable role in preserving the numerous shipwrecks in Lake Huron, documenting a history of tragedy that spans over 300 years. The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena is the interpretive and administrative center of the sanctuary, located on the banks of the Thunder Bay River. The local history of the Alpena area is documented by the Besser Museum, founded with an endowment from industrialist

Jesse Besser Jesse Besser (1882–1970) was an inventor and manufacturer from Alpena in the U.S. state of Michigan. He is best known for inventing, and supervising a series of improvements to, a tamping machine used to rapidly press wet, flexible concrete ...

. The Besser Museum is located on an campus in northern Alpena, and is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

. Permanent attractions at the Besser Museum include a planetarium and the Katherine V., a wooden fishing tug that spent its entire life on Lake Huron. The Besser Museum also features rotating collections of art, science, and local history. The museum is the publisher of ''The Town that Wouldn't Die: A Photographic History of Alpena, Michigan from Its Beginnings Through 1940''. The Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library serves Alpena County. Its special collections include the Northeast Michigan Oral History Archive, the comprehensive Great Lakes Maritime Collection, and a full collection of Alpena newspapers dating back to 1871. Arts organizations in the Alpena area include the Alpena Symphony Orchestra; the Alpena Civic Theatre; and the Thunder Bay Theatre, Northeast Michigan's year-round professional theatre located in the historic 1904 Spens Block on North Second Ave. Cinema in Alpena is supported by the newly opened Sanctuary Cinema, located in a former

store in Downtown Alpena, and the Maltz Opera House, under renovation to its 1920s-era appearance.

Parks

* Avery Park * Duck Park * Island Park * Mich-e-ke-wis Park * McRae Park * Rotary Island * Starlite Beach * Sytek Park * Lamarre Park * Thompson Park * Washington Park * Rockport State Park is Michigan's 100th state park and a dark sky preserve, is situated just north of the city on the Lake Huron shore. Within its s, it contains a abandoned limestone quarry, Devonian fossils,

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s and a protected deep water harbor. It is a U.S. 23 route heritage site. It is part of the "Alpena Blueway"

paddling Paddling, in regard to waterborne transport, is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using at least one hand-held paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel via generatin ...

route. There are many other state parks in the area.

Infrastructure

Air

Alpena County Regional Airport is the northeast lower peninsula of Michigan's main commercial airport and handles daily

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...

flights to

, Minneapolis/St. Paul via

, and to Pellston operated by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...

. It is a public-use airport located in Wilson Township, Michigan six miles (10 km) west of the central business district of Alpena. The Michigan

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center is a Michigan Air National Guard training facility. It is located west-northwest of Alpena, Michigan. Overview The Alpena CRTC is a year-round training facility. It provides premier support, facili ...

co-utilizes the airfield.

Rail

Alpena is situated along the Lake State Railway, formerly the Detroit and Mackinac Railway (D&M). Earlier railroads that served Alpena were built and owned by the Alger Smith and Co. logging company: (1) the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad, which entered Alpena from the south around 1886, and (2) the Alpena and Northern Railroad.

Bus

* Indian Trails provides daily intercity bus service between St. Ignace and

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city in Bay County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 32,661 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located just upriver from the Saginaw Bay on the Saginaw River. It is the princip ...

. This route is the

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

service for Alpena.

Major highways

* serves Alpena on its way along the

shoreline. It has been designated the "Sunrise Side Coastal Highway", and runs along (or parallels) the Lake Huron shore. To the north, it passes Grand Lake and Long Lake, then to Rogers City, through Cheboygan, and on to Mackinaw City, where it ends at

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

and the

Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ; also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper and Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It spans the Str ...

. On US 23 as it crosses Birdsong Bay just south of Alpena exists a sign which notes that it rests on the 45th parallel, indicating travelers are halfway between the equator and the North Pole. This is one of 29 places (six are in Michigan) in the U.S. where such signs are known to exist. US 23 continues south to Ossineke then further south to Oscoda and Tawas City. US 23 south joins

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

near Standish where it continues south downstate. * ends its easterly route from

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

to Lake Huron traversing the northern Lower Peninsula within downtown Alpena at an intersection with US 23.

Trails

* Alpena to Hillman Trail from Alpena to

Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had ...

in Montmorency County. * North Eastern State Trail from Alpena to Cheboygan in Cheboygan County

Education

Alpena, along with the rest of Alpena County and portions of Presque Isle County, is served by Alpena Public Schools. Alpena Public Schools was established as the first county-wide school district in the state of Michigan in 1963. The district has one high school, a junior high, an alternative/adult high school, and six elementary schools. The elementary schools are Besser, Ella White, Hinks, Lincoln, Sanborn, and Wilson Elementary Schools. Geographically, it is the largest school district in the Lower Peninsula, encompassing more than . There are two private schools in Alpena. All Saints Catholic School is affiliated with the four Roman Catholic parishes in the city (St. Anne's, St. Bernard's, St. John the Baptist and St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception) and provides preschool to 8th grade education. Immanuel Lutheran School is supported by the Immanuel Lutheran Church and has preschool to 8th grade classes. Alpena is also home to Alpena Community College. ACC is a two-year associates program that has partnerships with

Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a private Free Methodist university in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Developing from an earlier academy and junior college, in 1963 it began offering bachelor's degrees. Attaining university status in 1994, it is t ...

and several other Michigan institutions.

Media

Print

* ''The Alpena News'' is the daily (Monday to Saturday) newspaper of record for much of northeastern lower peninsula of Michigan. * Daily editions of the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' and ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

'' are also available throughout the area.

Radio

Alpena is home to several

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

AM

FM

Television

Alpena is the third smallest (208) Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA) in the United States.

Television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

s located within the Alpena DMA: * Channel 11: WBKB-TV - (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on DT2, ABC on DT3, Fox/

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

on DT4); the only locally programmed terrestrial station within the market * Channel 6: WCML-TV - (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

) - satellite of WCMU-TV Mount Pleasant Cable only television: * Cable 3: Alpena Community College educational television * Cable 5: Alpena CW - (

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

) Northeast Michigan is also served by selected major network affiliates from the

DMA, as well as

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

programming from CBMT-DT in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

service is provided within Alpena and many outlying communities by

Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. With over 32 million customers in 41 states as of 2022, it is the ...

Notable people

, inventor and benefactor of the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan; lived in Alpena * Paul Bunker, 1901 and 1902 All-American football player;

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

r; born in Alpena * William Comstock, 33rd governor of Michigan; born in Alpena *

Leon Czolgosz Leon Frank Czolgosz ( ; ; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American wireworker and Anarchism, anarchist who assassination of William McKinley, assassinated President of the United States, United States president William McKinley on Septe ...

, assassin of U.S. President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

; lived in Alpena * Bob Devaney, football coach for

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...

and Wyoming Cowboys football;

r; lived in Alpena * Brian Dutcher, basketball coach for

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

; born in Alpena * Jim Dutcher, former basketball head coach for

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

; born in Alpena * Robert L. Emerson, Michigan state Senator; born in Alpena *

The Frost The Frost was an American psychedelic rock band from Alpena, Michigan in the late 1960s, led by singer-guitarist Dick Wagner, who went on to play with Ursa Major, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel in the 1970s. The rest of the band consist ...

, psychedelic rock band of the '60s and '70s originated in Alpena. Several members were born there. *

Stanley Grenz Stanley James Grenz (1950–2005) was an American Protestant Christian theologian and ethicist in the Baptist tradition. Early years Grenz was born on 7 January 1950 in Alpena, Michigan. He studied at the University of Colorado and obtained a B ...

, Christian theologian; born in Alpena * Blaise Ilsley, pitcher for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

; born in Alpena * Lloyd R. Leavitt, Jr., United States Air Force general; born in Alpena * Betty Mahmoody, author of '' Not Without My Daughter''; lived in Alpena * Harvey Marlatt, shooting guard for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

; born in Alpena * Andrew Marwede, professional disc golfer; born in Alpena * Arthur William McLeod, member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

; born in Alpena * Joel Potrykus, filmmaker ('' Ape (2012 film)''); born in Alpena * Dan Rohn, infielder for the

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

; born in Alpena * Paul Fitzpatrick Russell, Roman Catholic archbishop and diplomat; lived in Alpena * Michael Bailey Smith, actor (''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

''); born in Alpena * K. J. Stevens, novelist and short story writer; born in Alpena * Kevin Young, first baseman for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

; born in Alpena

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

City of Alpena's official website

Alpena County Soil Survey, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Michigan State University Extension Service (soil, history, good general information)

Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography on Alpena, Michigan
{{authority control Cities in Alpena County, Michigan County seats in Michigan Populated places on Lake Huron in the United States Micropolitan areas of Michigan Populated places established in 1840 1840 establishments in Michigan