Publications

A collection of books about the Alcona County area and people

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Click below for the latest issue of the Alcona Historical Society Newsletter.

Spring 2023 Newsletter

The Alcona Reader

by The Alcona Historical Society

The Alcona Reader is a compilation of short, non-fiction stories about Alcona County, Michigan, in the northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula on the shores of Lake Huron. The stories are mostly memories of how things were in the "olden days," as far back as the late 1800s through the 1950s, by the people who lived at the time, or their descendants. David Tacia, who passed away in 2014, compiled the stories, and Helen Olson, who also passed away (in 2017), researched the stories' origins and obtained permissions to republish them when necessary.

ISBN-13: 978-1726301725

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Mt. Joy Cemetery: Haynes Township, Alcona County, Michigan 2nd Edition

by Robert L. Ferrett, Donald A. Ferrett, Janet Higgins, et al.

This is not your normal cemetery book! This volume does not just include a complete transcription of every tombstone inscription in the Mt. Joy Cemetery, but provides significant additional information on almost everyone interred in the cemetery. Seven hundred and forty-seven of the approximately 800 burials have been identified by name, with newspaper death notices included for 623. The section and lot numbers for each of them are included, along with a map of the cemetery. Where available, information from census records, vital records, and death notices or obituaries from local newspapers are given to form a brief chronology of the life of each individual.

ISBN-13: 978-0974400471

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Hazen "Kiki" Cuyler: A Baseball Biography

by Ralph T. Waldo

One of the greatest outfielders of his generation, Hazen "Kiki" Cuyler (1898-1950) was working as a roof assembler in an auto plant in Michigan when he seized an opportunity to realize his dream of playing major league baseball. After toiling in the minor leagues for more than three years, he took the National League by storm and became a legitimate star during his 1924 rookie season with Pittsburgh. Considered one of the fastest and smartest base runners of his era, Cuyler played for four National League pennant winners and participated in three World Series over his career, earning election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968. This definitive biography chronicles Cuyler's life and career, including his dispute with Pirate manager Donie Bush and his subsequent trade to Chicago in 1928.

ISBN-13: 978-0786468850

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A Brief History of the Springport Area

by Robert P. Merkel

This book discusses the major historical figures in the Springport area of Alcona County in Northeast Michigan. It includes a timeline of the settlement and development of the area and contains several historical photos.

ISBN-13: 978-1537560816

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Into Oblivion

by Robert L. Bunting (author) and Robert McGreevy (illustrator)

A marvelous, well-researched 1880s period documentary book with outstanding illustrations and original artwork by highly regarded Maritime Artist Robert McGreevy. Using commonly available news accounts as well as rare and obtuse research archives and fading oral histories this book recreates a northern Michigan ghost town describing the inhabitants, the mores, culture, level of medicine, games, courtship practices, general stores inventories and trade items. The book focuses on the disaster of the sinking of the passenger steamer Marine City shortly after leaving this port of the Town of Alcona in August of 1880. The book faithfully produces handwritten original witness statements of the sinking of the Marine City transcribed in an easily readable, unedited format.

ISBN-13: 978-0979749209

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Alcona County A Pictorial History

by Alcona County Review (Author), John D. Boufford (Editor), Cheryl L. Peterson (Editor)

It is truly a visual step back into a time when life was paced much slower. It certainly wasn’t easier. Many hardships faced the early pioneers of northern Michigan and Alcona County.

ISBN-13: 978-1795272087

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Alcona County A Pictorial History: Volume 2

by Alcona County Review (Author), John D. Boufford (Editor), Cheryl L. Peterson (Editor)

Photographs of the people, places and events that have shaped Alcona county from its inception up to 1960.

ISBN-13: 978-1795564618

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Contact Us:

Alcona Historical Society, P.O. Box 174, Harrisville, MI 48740