MICHIGAN GHOST TOWN: Hatton, Down a Dirt Road in Clare County

Now here's a Michigan town that seemed to have everything at one time, and now has hardly anything...except memories, very few remains, and history.

The town of Hatton was located in Clare County, 8 miles south of Harrison, 2 miles west on Hatton Road at the Junction of Hatton & Mullet roads.

Established in 1881 as a lumber town on the Pere Marquette Railway - with a post office and sawmills - Hatton grew quickly. By 1890 the town boasted a bazaar, drug store, general store, hotel, post office, railroad depot, two restaurants, three saloons, a couple of sawmills, schoolhouse, stockyard and a few other stores.

In 1910, a fire raged through the town, destroying the mills and burning down almost all the other buildings. After numerous other fires, the townspeople had enough and sought other towns in which to settle. The town of Hatton was never rebuilt and remains a forgotten, isolated area, sitting alone down a Michigan dirt road.

A few feet north on Mullet Road lies the old Hatton Cemetery, where some of the old tombstones may give more clues and info on what the town once was.

Nowadays it's considered an unincorporated community, a sad shell of it's former glorious self. Looking at the satellite photos below, you can see there's hardly anything left...but don't let that deter you from visiting someday. Just being there, knowing what the town once was, will make you reflect on what life might have been like in that forgotten Michigan town.

If you visit, be sure to protect yourself by getting permission to enter any abandoned structures you discover.

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