As we enter into the harbor at Fayette, we travel not just one hour back, but about 150 years back in time!
Visiting Fayette is like opening a dusty time capsule or traveling to a ghost town, your choice. This town was built for one purpose: supporting the Jackson Iron Company, whose furnace began smelting pig iron in 1867, two years after the Civil War ended. Smelting is the process of using heat to separate the “bad stuff” from the “good Stuff” thereby extracting a more desired base metal. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan provided all the natural resources necessary to fuel the Jackson Iron Company, namely timber and limestone.
The town of 500 residents, of which 1/2 were children, was totally self sufficient. Fayette had a market place, a barber, a school, a pharmacy, a meat market, and any other needed service. Of all the structures built during its hey day, 19 remain standing today. In 1959, the state of Michigan acquired Fayette as a state park. Their mission being, “We are not going to reconstruct Fayette to attract tourist dollars, but we are going to preserve Fayette for what it is – an outstanding historical site”. Today, their vision is complete with areas for campsites, a small marina, picnic spots, a swimming beach and a small museum/welcome center. They definitely avoided the tourist trap designation!
The next few days we will explore Fayette and go back in time…a time with no WIFI! 😉 Below are some photos of the remaining buildings.
The Jackson Iron Company Store was stocked with merchandise from businesses in Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit. While the convenience of purchasing on credit with the Jackson Iron Company was enticing, the residents referred to their prices as “Pluck Me Prices” for their exploitative nature.
So what happened to Fayette? Several things led to its demise after 24 years. First, they depleted all their resources. The hard timber, needed to make the charcoal, was gone. Second, a more efficient smelting process was developed in the east driving down the price of iron and rendering the Fayette operation costly and obsolete. The town of Fayette was not eco friendly by any means. Besides cutting down all the trees, they used the furnace waste products as road base and the beach was their landfill. It was not a tidy place. Today though, quite the opposite. It is well kept, serene, beautiful and forested!
We also hike the trails surrounding Fayette.
The deer run rampant and are quite tame and quite friendly to us visitors.
We had an enjoyable time visiting Fayette. Thankful for the sunny days and to the storms that held out until evening. Next stop will be another island destination…Beaver Island.
The company building what is all the birds reminds me of Alcatraz, where pigeons have taken over. Kinda veeepy for sure
Yep they have taken over! Very creepy.
Truly beautiful…great that the state park emerged to save the historical value as well as restore the land and water. Thanks again.
Glad you enjoy reading about our travels!