She was built in 1942 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan, to carry iron ore. She was originally owned by the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, a subsidiary of United States Steel.

In 1989, the ship was purchased by Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin, which shortened her by 120 feet (37 m) and converted her into a self-unloading cement carrier.

[1][2] She was built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at their River Rouge yards in Ecorse, Michigan[1][3] and named for Leon Fraser, president of the First National Bank of New York and a director of United States Steel.

[3] The first in her class to be launched, the Leon Fraser became the longest ship on the Great Lakes by freeboard length,[7][8][9] surpassing Canada Steamship Lines' Lemoyne.

[12] In May 1952, Leon Fraser captain A. C. Penzenhagen was accused by property owners living along the St. Clair River of speeding that caused damage-causing waves on shore.

[13] In the 1960s and 1970s, the ship also hauled grain in addition to ore.[10][12] In 1982, U.S. Steel's Great Lakes Fleet put the Leon Fraser into storage in Lorain, Ohio.

[2][14][15] According to Alpena third mate Erik Sawyer, shortening the ship would make her stronger by reducing the amount her hull could bend.

[16] The shortening also reduced the ship's capacity to 14,000 long tons (14,000 t),[14][15] but the Alpena was nonetheless the largest cement carrier on the Great Lakes in 1991.

[10] At the end of the 2021 season, the Alpena returned to the dry dock at FBS in Sturgeon Bay for her mandatory five-year inspection.