Alger County, Michigan
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 16 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1971. Most listings are in or near Escanaba, Munising, Grand Marais.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for Michigan is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Alger titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP11 of 16 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
16 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Au Sable Light Station | Grand Marais | 1978 |
| Bar Lake Site | Escanaba | 2014 |
| Bay Furnace | Christmas | 1971 |
| Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light | Christmas | 1990 |
| Grand Island North Light Station | Munising | 1985 |
| Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights | Grand Marais | 2012 |
| Hartney Terrace Site | Escanaba | 2014 |
| King Road-Whitefish River Bridge | Limestone Township | 1999 |
| Lobb House | Munising | 1976 |
| M-28-Sand River Bridge | Onota Township | 1999 |
| M-94 (old)-Au Train River Bridge | Au Train Township | 1999 |
| Mikulich General Store | Traunik | 1993 |
| Paulson House | AuTrain | 1972 |
| Pickle Barrel House | Burt Township | 2004 |
| Schoolcraft Furnace Site | Munising | 1977 |
| Widewaters Site | Escanaba | 2014 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBAlger was formed in 1885 (1885-03-17) from Schoolcraft.
ALGER created from SCHOOLCRAFT.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusAlger County population from 1890 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1890 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,238 | 5,868 | 9,983 | 10,167 | 10,007 | 9,250 | 9,225 | 9,862 | 8,842 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| piro | Park unit | 27.5 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS14 cemeteries and 0 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 14 of 14 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Au Train Township Cemetery |
| Bird Grave |
| Deerton Cemetery |
| Holy Rosary Catholic Cemetery |
| Indian Cemetery |
| Limestone Township Cemetery |
| Maple Grove Cemetery |
| Mathias Township Cemetery - Trenary Cemetery |
| Munising Township Cemetery |
| Pine Grove Cemetery |
| Reilly's Graves |
| Rose Hill Cemetery |
| Trudell's Graves |
| Williams-Powell Cemetery |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Alger County, Michigan
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.