Which ‘Alaska’ Came First: The State or the Michigan Town?

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.

The town was going along just fine for the next few years; and then in 1867, the United States bought Alaska from Russia. It took months to finalize, and by October 1867, Alaska was officially owned by the United States. This purchase obviously impressed the citizens and township board of North Brownville, for the following year on December 4, 1868, North Brownville was re-named ‘Alaska’.

The Alaska village post office closed on February 9, 1906.

It took almost 100 years before Alaska (the state) gained official statehood: January 3, 1959.