In Branch County, within the Algansee Township, is the village of Algansee. But to this day, nobody can conclusively figure out what Schoolcraft took them from, or what it means, but the popular consensus is that it means "sea". The village took off in 1836 once a sawmill was built. Get our free mobile appWhen the Algansee Telephone Company closed down, it left the residents without phone service until the late 1950s. Algansee is a true Michigan rarity, as not many people from Mid or Northern Michigan have never heard of it.