County note shelf
Alcona County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Alcona County. This shelf has 4 practical notes and 12 local stories.
16 notes
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- History and culture Alcona was first called Negwegon, and the new name was invented Alcona County started life in 1840 as Negwegon County, then took a name a federal geographer coined from scratch — meant to mean a fine plain.
- History and culture Greenbush started as a fishery, then a homesick man renamed it The Lake Huron hamlet of Greenbush grew from an 1848 fishery into a lumber-shipping port, and took its name to comfort a young worker far from home.
- History and culture How Mikado got an opera's name by accident The hamlet of Mikado was nearly named Bruceville for its founder — a postmaster who had just seen a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta picked the name instead.
- History and culture Hubbard Lake was the 'Bottomless Lake' until a geologist got it named One of Michigan's largest inland lakes was called the Bottomless Lake by early settlers, then renamed in 1867 for state geologist Bela Hubbard.
- History and culture The Alcona County Fair takes over a campground each August Every late August the Alcona County Fair fills the Alcona Recreation Area in Lincoln — a fairground that spends the rest of the year as a public campground.
- History and culture The Lincoln Depot: the last of its kind in northeast Michigan The little 1886 depot in Lincoln is the last surviving railroad station of its type in northeastern Michigan, now a museum with a 1925 caboose parked alongside.
- Outdoors Why Harrisville keeps a 'harbor of refuge' on Lake Huron Harrisville's marina is a designated harbor of refuge — a built shelter where boaters caught in a Lake Huron blow can duck in off an exposed shore.
- Money and taxes No city income tax in Harrisville Harrisville, Alcona County's only city, levies no city income tax; the nearest Michigan city that does is Grayling, roughly 70 miles west on M-72.
- History and culture Sturgeon Point Lighthouse and museums Sturgeon Point Lighthouse, the maritime museum, and Old Bailey School sit on the Lake Huron shore in Haynes Township.
- History and culture Harrisville: Alcona's county seat on the lake Harrisville is Alcona County's tiny county-seat city, Lake Huron harbor, and day-to-day hub.
- Outdoors Living on Hubbard Lake Hubbard Lake is Alcona County's big inland-lake market, spanning Alcona, Caledonia, and Hawes townships.
- Outdoors Alcona's forest interior and the Au Sable Alcona's inland townships are Huron National Forest country, with the Au Sable, Alcona Pond, Alcona Park, and quiet public land.
- Outdoors Living on the Lake Huron shore in Alcona County Alcona County's Lake Huron shore brings harbors, beaches, parks, fishing, dark skies, and Great Lakes buyer basics.
- Home and property Well and septic in rural Alcona County Outside Harrisville, Alcona County buyers should plan on private wells, septic systems, and buyer-paid inspections.
- Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.