The company incorporated on July 28, 1893, with the intention of building an 85-mile (137 km) line from Alpena to Mackinaw City, on the south shore of the Straits of Mackinac.

On November 18 of that same year the company opened a line from Alpena to LaRocque (now Hawks), for a total length of 35 miles (56 km).

[4] In 1894, the Alpena and Northern extended its line another 28.6 miles (46.0 km) southwest from LaRocque into Montmorency County.

[5] On April 16, 1895, the A&N was bought by the Detroit and Mackinac Railway and ceased to exist as an independent company.

[2] Its original main line between Alpena and LaRocque became part of the D&M's Northern Division, which reached Cheboygan in 1904.