Alpena County is located in the lower peninsula of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,907. The county seat is Alpena. It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan.
A New Map of Michigan with its Canals, Roads & Distances (1842) by Henry Schenck Tanner, showing Alpena County as Anamickee, the county's name from 1840 to 1843. Several nearby counties are also shown with names that would later be changed.
The county was created by the Michigan Legislature in 1840 as Anamickee County, then renamed in 1843 to Alpena County, a pseudo-Native American word — a neologism coined by Henry Schoolcraft, meaning "a good partridge country." This was part of a much larger effort to rename a great many of the Michigan counties at the time. It was officially organized in 1857.
Alpena County is home to:
- Rockport State Park
- Thunder Bay Island Light
- Several ship wrecks