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Jul 12, 2022 · Courtesy Photo The devastation of a fire in 1872 in Alpena is seen in this 150-year-old photo. The fire consumed 15 acres of property and 75 buildings burned. Four people were killed and two ...
As residents of Alpena, we hear a lot of misconceptions about our beautiful hometown. Like, “is it really cold there ALL the time?!”, or “there’s nothing to do in Alpena!”. Well, take a seat. We are about to explore the facts vs.myths of Alpena, Michigan! Myth: Alpena has rocky beaches everywhere. Fact: Alpena has sandy beaches everywhere! In fact, […]
People also ask
Is fishing still a thing in the Alpena area?
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What happened to Alpena Island?
What did lumber barons do in Alpena?
Jul 14, 2022 · Vintage Photos of Alpena, Michigan: 1900-1940s. Alpena's genesis occurred in 1830 when a lighthouse on Thunder Bay was built in 1832. A trading post popped up in 1835, and by the 1850s, settlers were arriving by boat into Thunder Bay, and the community began to grow. The village was laid out in 1853, and it became an incorporated city in 1871.
- 1871 Fire Map
- Great Michigan Fire
- Manistee Fire
- Or Was It?
- New Scene of Danger
- From A Witness
- Wooden Buildings
- Holland Fire
- Port Huron Fire
- The Aftermath of The Great Fires of 1871
In the map below the 37 individual fire areas can be grouped into five major fires that burned in the Great Lakes Region. The Great Chicago Fire, The Great Peshtigo Fire, the Port Huron Fire, Holland Fire, and the Manistee Fire. All the towns that burned in Michigan are called the Great Michigan Fire of 1871.
Logging was a major industry in Michigan in the 1800’s, as trees were harvested and sent to the mills, branches, bark, and unused wood was left behind. The summer of 1871 had not had rain for months, the land was dry, and the vegetation and logging debris became fuel for the fires. The gale force winds created a wall of flames from hundreds of smal...
At 9am that Sunday morning the fire alarms sounded, and the fire department rode the steamer to the Gifford and Ruddock’s Mills area. They found the twenty-acre tract of dead hemlock forest ablaze and threatening that part of the town. The fire department fought the fire all day and it was finally subdued, and the town was saved.
While the fire was raging an alarm whistle was blown on the east side of Manistee Lake about 2pm. The steam mill of Magill & Canfield on Blackbird Island was in flames. The mill, boarding house, stables, shops, docks, and lumber did not stand a chance, it was a total loss. As the night grew a light was seen in the southwest on the shore of Lake Mic...
From the south, directly in the back of the town a fierce wind was sending the fire toward the city. Many farms were on that side of town and were destroyed as the fire made it way and then divided into 2 columns. One staying on the lake shore and coming in at the mouth and the other heading northeasterly arriving directly south of town. Many tried...
Bryon M. Cutcheon, a reporter who lived in Manistee and witnessed the fire wrote “From Fifth Street, half of a mile south of the river, to Cushman & Calkins’ mill, half a mile north of the bridge, and from the foot of Oak Street eastward to Tyson & Robinson’s mill, at the outlet of Manistee Lake, three-fourths of a mile, was one surging sea of fire...
The city was built from the lumber they harvested, and building were burned to the ground. Over a thousand people were homeless, many penniless. They took refuge on vessels, tugs, boats, and barges. As the sun rose on Monday and the destruction could be seen it was a staggering blow. But as was common with small communities everyone banded together...
The fire started on the southern part of the town. As the winds increase there was no hope of saving the town as buildings on the towns western edge caught fire. One resident commented that “The entire territory covered by the fire was mowed as clean as with a reaper; there was not a fence post or a sidewalk plank, and hardly a stump of a shade tre...
As the fires burned in Holland and Manistee it skipped over to the east side of the state only to be stopped by Lake Huron’s shore. The winds brought the embers and smoke from the west. In just over 30 hours the fires that started in Manistee found its way through Grayling and Big Rapids. It swept through Isabelle, Midland and Bay counties and was ...
That fire that raged across 2.25 million acres of the upper Midwest destroying at least 4 billion feet of prime timber. At least 1,200 lives were lost, including approximately 800 in Peshtigo alone. In Chicago, the loss of live was 300 and almost 20% of the residents were left homeless. Four square miles were completed leveled including the busines...
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 ...
Apr 29, 2023 · The risk factors are different today than in 1923, as can be seen in the Alpena County Hazard Mitigation Plan of 2021 (Google “Alpena County Hazard Mitigation Plan at Discover Northeast Michigan
The Metz Fire of 1908. In the late morning of October 15, the Metz Fire of 1908 started somewhere west of Millersburg, Michigan. By evening, 37 people were dead. The village of Metz was a charred and smoking ruin. And 134 families – about 700 people – were suddenly homeless.
