- Alger County -

Alger County is located in the northern part of the Upper Peninsula and is bounded on the north and part of the west by Lake Superior, remainder of the west by Marquette, the south by Delta and Schoolcraft, and on the east by Luce. It was set off from Schoolcraft and organized in 1885 and named in honor of lumber baron Russell A. Alger, then governor of Michigan. He was afterwards secretary of war and United States senator.

Munising, the county seat, snuggles in a picturesque, large and sheltered harbor at the foot of Munising bay. Lake Superior is mostly hidden from view by Grand Island, which extends from across a narrow strait eight miles into the lake. The American Fur Company built a post on Grand Island during the mid 1820's but the first permanent white settlers were Abraham and Anna Williams who lived in an old fur trader cabin; later building a large white house near the water's edge. The house would become a part of a resort hotel about 1904 when William Mather, president of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company, purchased the island. In 1990 the government acquired Grand Island and it became part of the Hiawatha National Forest.

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