The Alden Depot Museum

The Alden Depot Museum HONORING OUR LOCAL HISTORY! In 1890 the Chicago and West Michigan railroad became the Chicago and North Michigan Railroad.

We have displays on local history, railroad history, exhibits about families and businesses, a restored caboose and box car and a train room full of model trains for young and old alike. A railroad line, traveling from Traverse City following the Chain of Lakes north to Bay View above Petoskey, was built. The logical route would have been straight north through Elk Rapids, instead, William Alden S

mith used his influence to establish a route that went east through Williamsburg and Barker Creek then north through Rapid City and Spencer Creek north east to Bellaire and then north to Bay View. In 1881 statistics show that the United States held 571 acres of land in Antrim County. The state of Michigan held 12,369 acres and the railroad held 146,207 acres, much of which was up for sale. William Alden Smith knew the railroad would cause the population in the area to increase bringing more business to the railroad. It would also take business away from their rival, the Grand Rapids and Indiana line. As construction of the railroad continued, William Alden Smith remained a friend of Spencer Creek and was always available to help the community. Grateful citizens decided to rename Spencer Creek in his honor and in 1891 it became known as Alden! The first train depot was built in approximately 1892 and the railroad incorporated into the Pere Marquette in 1900. Alden came alive with the arrival of the railroad. In 1904 the “Resort Special” began operations. The Alden Depot was abuzz of activity with “summer people” arriving and departing and was soon known as the “leading summer resort between Grand Rapids and Charlevoix”. More tickets were sold with a destination of Alden than any other spot along the line! After the original depot burned down in 1907, the current depot was built in 1908.

06/10/2026

Our annual Antique and Cottage Decor sale is coming up the last Saturday of June on the 27th. We need sellers! Anyone interested in selling items should register at the Depot on Thursday June 25th or Friday June 26th from 10am to noon. You will pick up your selling tags and an instruction sheet at that time.
• No items under $10.00 are allowed.
• You may provide your own table or there will be ones available for you.
• Set up your items on Saturday morning between 7:30am- 9am. Pick up your unsold items after 5pm on Saturday.
• Any items not picked up are donated to the Alden Men’s Club.
• 20% of sales go to the Historical Society as a fundraiser.
• No exercise equipment, appliances, large electronics, TV’s etc.

Email Barbara at [email protected] or Linda at [email protected] if you need more information.
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We are thinking this is the Armstrong Family. Possibly John Armstrong middle left. Can anyone from the family identify i...
06/06/2026

We are thinking this is the Armstrong Family. Possibly John Armstrong middle left. Can anyone from the family identify it for us so we can properly label it?

05/28/2026

After many years of dedicated service to the museum our docent, Ruben, felt he needed to step back. We are excited to announce that we have hired a new docent. His name is Evan Proudfoot and he will be starting this Friday. He is excited to part of our Alden family, so stop in and give him a warm welcome! We are very happy to have him with us for the season.

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05/26/2026

We had a wonderful open house after the parade on Monday. We have extended our hours this season. Open on Fridays now from 1-4 and Saturday and Sundays from 11-4. Stop in and see our three new displays: winter at Torch Lake, Alden Bank and newspapers of Alden.

Well, the mystery of Mary's Beach continues. The discovery of Mary Armstrong Suddes death certificate confirms she died ...
05/16/2026

Well, the mystery of Mary's Beach continues. The discovery of Mary Armstrong Suddes death certificate confirms she died in 1911. Lot 17, next to the beach was purchased in 1912 but obviously not by her. All indications are that after her husband died she did sell her farm and moved in with her brother Leonard. She died from dementia and heart issues. So.... Paul is going to the register of deeds soon to see what he can find out about Lot 17. Stay tuned. It was fun getting to know Mary and her family. Genealogy is like that. One step forward and two back.

We have been working on a mystery? Who was Mary's Beach on N. Lake Street named after? Many ideas and thoughts have emer...
05/14/2026

We have been working on a mystery? Who was Mary's Beach on N. Lake Street named after? Many ideas and thoughts have emerged. We think we have it figured out. Mary Armstrong was born in 1854 to Benjamin and Margaret Armstrong. She had 5 brothers: John who was blinded in a mining accident, Benjamin, Leonard who founded the Armstrong store and who's son Guy ran the gas station in town later, Henry, and Thomas. John Armstrong's building was on the site of Higgins Store now.

She married George Suddes in 1880 and immigrated to the USA soon after. They owned a farm at "the 4 corners" which is at Cemetery Rd. And Helena Rd. George was active in the church and helped lay the cornerstone in 1884. The farm was next door to Leonard's farm. George died in 1907 and before long she knew she had to sell the farm so she did so to her nephew. She died on Dec 29, 1911. It appears after George died she used her maiden name again, maybe because her brother Leonard was such a prominent figure in town. The property next to the public access was purchased in her name. More research is needed as to when and how.

We are still searching for her obituary as it should be in the Bellaire paper. George is buried in the Helena Township Cemetery but no online indication that she is buried with him so that is to be determined. A trip to the cemetery is coming!

Her death certificate indicates she is buried in Alden so maybe with no grave marker? So, the mystery is kind of solved with many questions still to figure out. Maybe there is another Mary Armstrong who bought the property next to the access?

We had our first meeting of the season and with the help of a generous donation we are able to expand our hours. We will...
04/24/2026

We had our first meeting of the season and with the help of a generous donation we are able to expand our hours. We will begin the season after the Memorial Day Service as always. We have added Friday 1-4 to our schedule and will be open from 11-4 on Saturday and Sunday. Our last day will be the second Saturday in October which is Harvest Festival in Alden. The Antique and Cottage Decor sale will be held on the last Saturday of June. Join us as a seller or a buyer! And, we have a new logo!!

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10670 Coy Street
Alden, MI
49612

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