County note shelf
Alpena County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Alpena County. This shelf has 4 practical notes and 7 local stories.
11 notes
Read the county shelf
- History and culture Cement City and the Besser block Alpena's cement industry and Jesse Besser's concrete-block machine helped shape construction far beyond northeast Michigan.
- History and culture Dinosaur Gardens in Ossineke Dinosaur Gardens is a classic Ossineke roadside attraction, with concrete dinosaurs sculpted by Paul Domke beginning in the 1930s.
- Money and taxes Is there a city income tax in Alpena County? Alpena County has no local income tax: Alpena is the county's only city, and it does not levy one.
- Outdoors The Brown Trout Festival Alpena's Michigan Brown Trout Festival brings a long-running Thunder Bay fishing tournament and summer waterfront events to the city each July.
- Outdoors The sinkhole country Rockport and the karst country north of Alpena reveal sinkholes, disappearing water, fossils, and dark-sky shoreland.
- History and culture Thunder Bay and the shipwreck sanctuary Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects Lake Huron shipwrecks off Alpena, with museum and glass-bottom-boat access from downtown.
- History and culture 'Shipwreck Alley' — Where You Can See Sunken Ships Without Getting Wet Off Alpena, Lake Huron's 'Shipwreck Alley' holds nearly 200 wrecks, preserved in cold fresh water and protected as the only marine sanctuary in the Great Lakes.
- Outdoors The Presque Isle Pair: The Oldest and the Tallest You Can Climb Two Lake Huron lighthouses a mile apart north of Alpena — the oldest you can still climb and the tallest open to the public on the Great Lakes — with a friendly ghost story to match.
- Home and property Wells, septic, and what to check before you buy Alpena County township buyers should check private wells and septic systems themselves because there is no automatic point-of-sale inspection rule.
- 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.