Fishing – Thunder Bay Island was
the first place to be inhabited by settlers
in the Alpena area and everything revolved
around fishing. By 1845, a small fishing
village was established on Thunder Bay
Island with about 160 inhabitants and a
fleet of 31 fishing boats in operation. By
1846, the first store, in what would later
become Alpena County, was constructed
on the island and this fishing community
had harvested 12,000 barrels of fish for the
year. The inhabitation of the Island was
short-lived as it became federally-owned,
and the villagers were forced to relocate
to nearby Sugar Island. For many years
Alpena was the chief commercial fishing
port on Lake Huron and ranked with the
largest on all of the Great Lakes. Fishing
is still at the core of our being here in the
Alpena Area, and you will find people fishing
all over the region across the many
inland lakes, the big Lake Huron, the river
systems, and even in the middle of the
city from bridges and lookout platforms.
Alpena’s original industry continues to
be an activity that is passed on through
the generations. Visit Besser Museum for
Northeast Michigan to see the “Katherine
V”, an authentic big lake fishing tug retired
from service.
Logging Boomtown
– Lumbering was one of the first nationally
significant industries to transpire in
the Alpena area after fishing. The timber
harvest began in southern Michigan and
Ohio, and as more timber was needed to
construct major cities such as Chicago,
resources depleted rapidly. This led to the
logging boom in Northeast Michigan. Large
tracts of timber-rich land were logged and
the spoils of the effort were floated down
Thunder Bay River to the mouth of Thunder
Bay in Alpena. The harbor was busy seeing
as many as 1,500 to 2,000 ships docking
annually to load logs and lumber products
to ship out to the rest of the growing
nation. Lumber barons (logging company
and landowners) were among the first to
provide the City of Alpena with basic infrastructure
and services such as roads and
stores. Logging operations were at a peak
from 1836 through 1921, and the thriving
lumber trade birthed many small towns
along the coast such as Bell. This small
village lying on the False Presque Isle Harbor
was once home to Presque Isle Brick &
Lumber Co., McIntyre Lumber Camp, and a
few more, from the mid/late 1800’s. At its
peak, the town was bustling with workers
and included hotels, fully stocked stores
with sleeping quarters above, mills, and a
dozen or more other buildings. Immigrants
came from far and wide to work at these
lumbering mills to build up towns as well
History &
Heritage
as
Told
Through
Our
Industry
Every town has a story. Every dot on
the map is there for a reason. A town
may have been established as a major
place of commerce, or located along
a wagon route rich with a necessary
resource like fresh water, or exist simply
because it was halfway between
here and there. Alpena’s story is rich
with heritage and a changing cultural
landscape that is both interesting and
intriguing. This cozy Northeast Michigan
community has had a knack for
reinvention and the history books are
dotted with the lineage of trailblazing
pioneers who refused to let the town
die. Inventive entrepreneurialism has
led the charge whether it be making paper
from logging industry byproducts
at Fletcher Paper Company; or, making
the first American-made dresses
for Paris, France at the Alpena Garment
Company, the largest plant of its kind
in 1926. Here is a snapshot of notable
industry that has helped shape the face
of the Alpena area.
Piepkorn Brothers Fish Company net menders 1922; Courtesy Fred Trelfa Collection
40 Sanctuary of the Great Lakes