Moffatt Township Digital Image Collection

Most of these images are only minimally identified. If you recognize any of the people, places, events or dates, please contact us. Your information and stories will help improve our archives for future generations.

Click on the photo to start a gallery. Navigate forward and backward manually. Photo captions/descriptions accompany the photos, and also are in PDF format accessed by the links below the galleries.

About the unincorporated community of of Alger
Alger was established in 1883, named after Russell A. Alger, who constructed a key railroad junction networking off of the Michigan Central Railroad. The junction brought both travelers and the lumber business. The settlement around this junction soon became a town with a blacksmith, saloons, sawmills, a grist mill and stave mill, churches, a general store and hotel, restaurants, and a schoolhouse. Russel Alger, a figurehead of the town, became Michigan’s 20th governor (1885-1887). By 1896, timber was depleted, bringing an end to Alger’s railroad operations. With loss of railroad travel, local businesses withered. The affiliated Moffatt Twp rail-stop hamlets of Culver and Wells ceased to exist, but a small population continues as Alger.

All Digital Image Collections

No Documents

1933 Alger School, Moffatt Twp, Dist 1 Update
(Arenac County Independent) See Caption/Description PDF link for list of teachers and students.

1933 West Alger School, Moffatt Twp, Dist 1 Update
Teacher: Thelma Lenarsie. Past teachers: Pearl Bryan, Edith Pomeroy, Agnes Wilson.
Board members: Cecil Dunn (director), Raymond Garrity (moderator), Willard Dunn (treasurer).
Beginners: Wanda Dunn, Bruno Jedrzejczyk.
1st: Tom Haller, Stanley Jedrzejczyk.
2nd: Katherine Dunn, Ruth Garrity.
3rd: Mildred Haller, Irma Haller, Mary Jedrzejczyk.
4th: Doris Dunn, Ross Feet, Elmer Mathe.
5th: Leonard Dunn, Frank Haller.
6th: Jessie McLary, Frank Mathe, Fern Templin.
7th: Donald Dunn, Helen Jedrzejczyk, Mike Jedrzejczyk.
8th: Grace Garrity. (Arenac County Independent)

1933 Moffatt School, Moffatt Twp, Dist 2 Update
15 Feb 1933. Teacher: Erma V Bourgeois. Past teachers: Allison Shepard, Marietta Kindig, Luella MacGillivary, Joyce Seder.
Board members: Roy Lemmer (director), Frank Seder (moderator), Julius Marx (treasurer).
Beginners: Marvin Seder, Mary U[?]ak, Albert Pustah, Elwood Henry, Mary Fetezel, Anna Fetezel.
1st: Helen Avram, Harrison Henry.
2nd: Helen Fetezel, Robert Leinaar, Junior Seder.
3rd: Charles Nimeth, Aubrey Seder, Lavina Wainwright, Violet Yuhas, Anna Nagy.
4th: Geoge Nimeth, Morris Wainwright.
5th: Joe Avram, Stephen Nimeth.
6th: Mary Avram, Mary Halamar.
7th: Laura Campbell, Theron Campbell, Pearl Seder, Tony Vereb, Ethel Wainwright, Ella Nagy.
8th: Lillian Wainwright. (Arenac County Independent)

1946 Alger Park WWII Roll of Honor.
"Alger, Michigan, pays proud tribute to its citizen who answered the call to the colors in World War II." Names forwarded to A D Franklin (Supervisor). (Arenac County Independent) See Caption/Description PDF link for names listed.

1946 Dunn Freight Lines Ad
17 Jul 1946. Of Alger. Includes "Don't Forget Our Boys in Service, Buy Bonds." (Arenac County Independent)

1946 Earl Dunn Auction Sale/Moving Notice
31 Jul 1946. Moving away from Alger. Auctioneer Steve Panigay. (Arenac County Independent)

Moffatt Twp News clippings
Captions/Descriptions PDF

Circa 1900 Hattie (Smith) Maloney Runyan

Circa 1907-15 Alger Baseball Team
Estimated to be between 1907–1915. Back row 3rd man from left is Harold Allen, grandfather of photo contributor, Terry Allen Enea.

Circa 1910 Town Hall School
1st floor was the school which also served as a church. 2nd floor was the Town Hall.

Circa 1913 George Allen Family
Posing on porch and steps of their house in Moffatt Twp. Reading from left. Standing on porch: Clyde Beckett, Anna Roby (Babe), Eva Lillian, Harold Henry, Martha Elizabeth (Beckett) & George Stephen. Sitting on steps: George Clare and Claude Ellsworth. (Photo courtesy of Terry Allen Enea)

1926 Emily (Wise) Smith
2 Jul 1926. Of Alger. Emily was born in 1852. She married Geter Smith and they had 7 children. She moved to Standish sometime after 1884, then moved back to Alger until her death in 1928. The photo has handwritten notes "Aunt Emily Wise Smith | 7-2-26 | Grandma [McCaelin?] sister | at Alger Mich."

1950 Town Hall School Class
9 May 1950. Harrison Viele was the teacher. No individuals in photo identified.

Harold Allen & Paul Draher (Date unknown)
Allen (left) & Draher. Location unidentified.

Michigan Central Railroad Station, Alger (Date unknown)
During late 1800's, the station served as junction point for the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad (later became the Detroit & Mackinac Railway). This station rated a trackside standpipe locomotive water pipe. The norm was for the train to pull up to the tower so having a standpipes was unusual for a small place like Alger.

DBCA RR Train on High Iron Bridge (Date unknown)
Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad Company train riding High Iron Bridge over the wooden bridge spanning the Rifle River. High Iron Bridge was completed in 1883 using a design patterned from bridge engineering developed in the Civil War. It was considered to be the highest railroad bridge in Michigan.

Moffatt Twp Photos
Captions/Descriptions PDF

No Postcards