Alpena, Michigan
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Alpena Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49707. It stands on Thunder Bay River. The Survey maps it on the Alpena quadrangle. 10,197 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 591 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Alpena
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 9 records
Alpena County Courthouselisted 1983
Alpena Lightlisted 2006
Bingham Schoollisted 2020
Fishing Tug Katherine Vlisted 2003
IOOF Centennial Buildinglisted 2015
Middle Island Lightlisted 2006
Thunder Bay Island Light Stationlisted 1984- Alpena Central Historic Districtlisted 2025
- Besser, Herman and Hattie (Ely), Houselisted 2023
Population over time
2 figuresAlpena fell from 10,483 to 10,197 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 10,483 | |
| 2020 | 10,197 | -286 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Alpena quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Alpena quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Alpena quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Alpena quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Alpena quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Alpena quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
59 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 59 fires within 5 miles of Alpena between 1992 and 2020, burning about 37 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ALPENA TOWNSHIP FD 18N1075 - 2018 |
| 3 July 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ALPENA FIRE DEPARTMENT 0704 - 2020 |
| 21 July 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ALPENA FIRE DEPARTMENT 0000686 - 2018 |
| 18 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ALPENA FIRE DEPARTMENT 0000759 - 2018 |
| 30 June 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ALPENA TOWNSHIP FD 018N745 - 2018 |
| 21 June 1995 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Alpena: 3 producers, 1 plant, 1 past producer. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Cement Rock. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpena Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Plant | ||
| Alpena Quarry | Cement Rock | Producer | 1908 | |
| Limestone Quarry-National Gypsum | Stone | Producer | ||
| Alpena Co Pit Re Glancy Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Klein Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
25 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alpena in 25 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 14 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2005 | Lightning | Alpena | 1 hurt | A nearby lightning strike at a campground shocked a man who was taking down an awning. He was taken to a local hospital for observation. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $50,000 | A barn was blown over on Hubbard Lake road. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $50,000 | A garage roof was blown over onto a car by thunderstorm wind. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $10,000 | Several trees were downed. |
| April 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $5,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds uprooted several large trees near Highway M-32. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $3,000 | Several trees down in Washington Avenue Park. Social media pictures included uprooted trees and a blown over portable toilet. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $3,000 | A tree and a few large tree limbs were downed on 2nd Avenue and on Sable Street, near the northern city limits of Alpena. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $500 | A 12-inch-diameter tree was blown over on Long Rapids Road within two blocks northwest of the city limits in Alpena. A wind gust was estimated at 50 mph. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $500 | A 12-inch-diameter tree was uprooted on fair street in the city of Alpena. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $500 | A 15-inch-diameter tree was uprooted on Dow Road in the city of Alpena as reported by a student volunteer. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | $500 | Several large trees were uprooted by thunderstorm wind. |
| August 2025 | Hail | Alpena | - | Multiple reports of hailstones up to 2 inches in diameter near El Cajon and Misery Bays on the Lake Huron coast east of Alpena. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | - | Report from social media of a tree snapped at its base, downing wires and a power pole. Rainfall report from the Alpena area of 2.41 inches of rain with thunderstorms with standing water in yard. |
| July 2016 | Hail | Alpena | - | Some damage done to area crops, including wheat and soybeans. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | - | Numerous trees and utility lines were downed. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | - | Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and powerlines countywide. |
| August 1993 | Hail | Alpena | - | A spotter reported dime-size hail on Franklin Street in the city of Alpena. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Alpena | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpena | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Alpena | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1012455 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 620017. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





