Editing Alpena, Michigan (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of Northern Michigan}}
The Alpena area is home to the [[Ojibwe]], [[Odawa|Ottawa]], and [[Potawatomi]] people. These people groups inhabit the area surrounding the [[Great Lakes]], including Michigan. The Thunder Bay Band of Chippewa and Ottawa merged with the [[Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians]] 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]] coined by [[Henry Schoolcraft]], meaning something like "a good partridge country."<ref name="Herron">{{cite journal |url=http://nelsonherron.tripod.com/family/alpena/placenames.htm |title=A History of the Place Names of Alpena County |journal=Wilderness Chronicle |issue=19–21 |date=1990–1991 |first1=Catherine |last1=Herron|first2=Nelston R. |last2=Herron|access-date=January 18, 2013}}</ref><ref name="place" /><ref name="Clarke">{{cite web |url=https://www.cmich.edu/research/clarke-historical-library/explore-collection/explore-in-person/bibliographies/michigan-local-history/countymaterial/a-c#a3 |publisher=[[Clarke Historical Library]], [[Central Michigan University]] |title=Bibliography on Alpena County|access-date=January 18, 2013}}</ref> This was part of a much larger effort to rename a great many of the Michigan counties at the time.<ref name="place">{{cite web|url=http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_20826_20829-54126--,00.html |title=Michigan government on place names |access-date=January 18, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728130613/http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0%2C1607%2C7-160-15481_20826_20829-54126--%2C00.html |archive-date=July 28, 2009 }}</ref>

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]] platted a village by the name of '''Fremont''', after [[John C. Frémont]]. The community was briefly renamed '''Thunder Bay''' in 1857 before being renamed again to Alpena in 1871.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Romig |first=Walter |title=Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-8143-1838-X |location=[[Detroit]] |pages=20}}</ref> The city of Alpena was officially incorporated by Michigan State Legislature on March 29, 1871.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcziAAAAMAAJ|title=Complete History &#91;of&#93; Alpena County, Michigan|year=1876|publisher=Argus}}</ref>

Most of the city was lost in the [[Great Michigan Fire]] of 1871.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Hanines |first1= D. A. |last2= Sando |first2= R. W. |title= Climatic Conditions Preceding Historically Great Fires in the North Central Region |publisher= [[United States Forest Service]] |at= Research Paper NC-34, Figure 1 |year= 1969 |url= http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rp/rp_nc034.pdf |access-date= 2016-06-04 |archive-date= 2012-02-08 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120208132439/http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rp/rp_nc034.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref> Less than one year later, on July 12, 1872, Alpena was hit by another fire, the largest in its history, which destroyed {{convert|15|acre}} of homes and businesses<ref name="Haltiner">{{cite book |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mialpena/HistDoc/townthat.htm |work=Stories of Alpena Life |title=The Town That Wouldn't Die: Alpena, Michigan |first1=Robert E. |last1=Haltiner |first2=Ann |last2=Tabe |access-date=June 4, 2016 |publisher=Village Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-9617779-0-6}}</ref> for a total amount of 65 buildings.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95077631/ About Alpena argus. (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909]. ''Chronicling America''. Retrieved June 5, 2016.</ref> The blaze started in a barn and lasted for two hours, killing at least four people and causing at least {{US$|180,000|1872|long=no|link=yes|round=-4}} in damages.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Viall |first1=John C. |year=1914 |url=https://archive.org/details/3119004.0001.001.umich.edu |title=Alpena: Dates of Early Events |location=Alpena, MI |publisher=The News |pages=[https://archive.org/details/3119004.0001.001.umich.edu/page/8 8]–9 |access-date=June 5, 2016 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name="Jerlecki">{{Cite book | author= Jerlecki, Constance M. | title=Tales of Michigan II| publisher=Clinton Township, MI: Inland Expressions| year=2015| isbn=978-1-939150-10-3}} pp. 52–55.</ref><ref name="form">{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/15000944.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form  |publisher=National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior |date=November 13, 2015 |pages=2–3 (Section 8) |access-date=June 5, 2016}}</ref> Alpena was again hit by a disastrous fire on July 11, 1888.<ref name="Jerlecki" /><ref name="form" /> 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 [[Detroit]].

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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1930 |title=Alpena |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |edition=14|volume=1|page=677 |language=en}}</ref>

The city has a number of notable buildings, including the [[Art deco]] [[Alpena County Courthouse]], the [[I.O.O.F. Centennial Building]], and [[Temple Beth El (Alpena, Michigan)|Temple Beth El]], one of the [[oldest synagogues in the United States]].{{efn-ua|In Michigan, it is the only synagogue in the northeast ([[Northern Michigan]]) of the [[Lower Peninsula]].<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite news |url=https://thejewishnews.com/lifecycle-announcements/announcement-order-form/ |title=Synagogue Spotlight: Thriving on Michigan's Coastline |first1=Danny |last1=Schwartz |date=October 4, 2022 |newspaper=[[The Detroit Jewish News]]|quote=Alpena’s Temple Beth-El is Michigan’s only synagogue east of I-75 from Bay City to Sault Ste. Marie.|accessdate=April 18, 2023}}</ref>  It is closely associated with the Hebrew Benevolent Society Cemetery.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.patronicity.com/project/jewish_alpena_is_back#!/ |title=Jewish Alpena is back! Temple Beth-El: A Campaign to document the history and special story of Alpena's Jewish Sanctuary. |quote=In 1875, the Hebrew Benevolent Society was formed for the purpose of “buying a burial ground." Founders then chartered a society and rented a room in which to hold regular meetings and prayer services (1877). As with all newly emerging Jewish congregations of the era, the Hebrew Benevolent Society was chartered to take care of its sick, bury the dead, and hold Sabbath and holiday services, which at the time, were conducted by officers and selected members. |publisher=Patroncity |accessdate=April 18, 2023}}</ref>}}

===Historical markers===
There are seven recognized historical markers in the city:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michmarkers.com/Frameset.htm|title=Michigan Historical Markers|work=michmarkers.com|access-date=2008-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315141338/http://www.michmarkers.com/Frameset.htm|archive-date=2010-03-15|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

* 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 (company)|Lafarge]])