Lonely and Loving It: The Michigan Ghost Town of Pleasantview

Looking at the Emmet County village called Pleasantview (sometimes referred to as “Pleasant View”) you’ll see it’s not much of a village at all - just a township office, maybe a couple of houses, and it’s over.

Emmet County was established in 1840, with Pleasantview Township coming along years later, in 1876, thanks to the 418 residents coming up with a petition.

The first of three township cemeteries was purchased that same year with two more following, all still in use in the 2000s. The town of Pleasantview eventually had a cemetery, church, post office, schoolhouse and stagecoach stop. There were a total of four schoolhouses in the area – now all gone - even though the town’s population had dwindled to 70 by 1910.

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Milkweed was abundant and Pleasantview decided to take advantage of it. With the lumber business just about at an end, the township decided to appoint a Weed Commissioner in 1899, and soon the milkweed pods were harvested for its silk. The silk was used to manufacture life jackets, vests & preservers for soldiers during World Wars I and II.

In 1954, Camp Pellston prison camp was established, located partially in the Pleasantview and Center Townships. It closed for good on December 31, 2001. As I mentioned before, the old township hall is still there, a lone reminder of the village of Pleasantview, nowadays being relegated to 'ghost town' status.

The gallery below shows you how it appears today: lonely and loving it.