Frozen During Wintertime: The Michigan Ghost Town of Fayette
Even though the former town of Fayette lies way up in the Upper Peninsula in Delta County, many of us have either been there or heard of it.
It was named after Fayette Brown of the Jackson Iron Company, the business responsible for the creation of the town. While constructing a charcoal iron smelter in 1867, the company didn’t initially realize the area would grow into an actual village.
A post office opened in 1870, with the village now known as one of the UP’s most successful iron-smelting producing operations. The town grew around the blast furnaces, an extensive dock, and charcoal kilns. The population reached 500 with their sole existence dedicated to making pig iron. When the demand for charcoal iron subsided, the furnace became dismantled in 1891 and all smelting operations were shut down.
Out of the 500 residents, only 20 stayed after the shut down. Fayette became relegated to being a fishing village and a resort area for the wealthy by 1916. The town was sold again in 1946, re-resold by the Escanaba Paper Company and traded to the Michigan government. By 1959, Fayette became a state park.
Nowadays Fayette is called a “ghost town” but I don’t care for that term. Yes, it used to be a town, but it has since been turned into a tourist destination – or “trap”, if you will.
The gallery below shows what Fayette looks like during the freezing winter months...
Frozen Fayette
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