Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Services in Algoma, WI

Algoma is a city on the western shore of Lake Michigan in Kewaunee County, sitting at the mouth of the Ahnapee River about 30 miles east of Green Bay.

The settlement that became Algoma was founded in 1834 by Joseph McCormick of Manitowoc, and Irish and English pioneers who arrived in 1851 first called the place Wolf River, after a legendary wolf in Potawatomi stories - the wolf later became the mascot of Algoma High School.

The town was renamed Ahnapee in 1859, from the Chippewa 'anin api' meaning 'when,' and the town surrounding the city still bears the Ahnapee name.

Ahnapee survived the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871, which burned thousands of acres around Green Bay, because torrential rains extinguished the flames just before they reached the town.

Ahnapee incorporated as a city on February 23, 1879, and in 1897 the Wisconsin legislature renamed it Algoma, a name said to come from an Indigenous term for 'park of flowers.'

When it was renamed in 1897, Algoma's commercial fishing fleet was the largest on Lake Michigan, and sport fishing for salmon and trout remains a major draw for visitors today.

The Ahnapee and Western Railway arrived in 1892 and connected Algoma to the national rail network for 94 years, spurring factories such as the Ahnapee Seating & Veneer Company, which operated under various owners until 2017.

The 2020 census counted 3,243 people in Algoma, up slightly from 3,167 in 2010, and the 2010 census recorded 1,406 households in the city.

Algoma celebrates Shanty Days every second weekend of August, a lakefront festival with a parade, fireworks, a 5K run, wine tasting and an arts and crafts show honoring its fishing-shanty heritage.

The Ahnapee State Trail, which partly follows the Ice Age Trail, runs through Algoma and connects it to Forestville, Casco and Kewaunee for hiking, biking and snowmobiling.