Makes you kinda wonder what came first: Alaska the state or Alaska the Michigan village?
The answer is – the village. If that’s so, then why was it named ‘Alaska’?
You will find the Michigan village of Alaska in Kent County in Caledonia Township, sitting along the Thornapple River. It was founded in 1848 when a sawmill was built here by William Brown. It therefore made some kind of sense to name this new community “Brownville”.
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It took another seven years before a post office began operating. On December 13, 1855, it opened with Theodore Nelson as postmaster. Just five days later on December 18, 1955, the name of the village was changed to ‘North Brownville’, even though it was basically the same old Brownville…