Garden, Michigan. Founded in 1867 by Jackson Iron Company. This company brought as many as 500 citizens as it provided them employment, family, community and stability. The workers manufactured pig iron and shipped it out through this port, so the town was generally booming. Jackson Iron Company officially decided to close it’s doors several years later, sending the town into an economic depression. With no work, and no surrounding cities for as far as 50 miles, the citizens literally packed up and left, leaving the town for dead. The condition the town was left and still stands in is remarkable and equally as haunting. Fayette lies on Lake Michigan’s Garden Peninsula. (Pictured: limestone wall and forest lying on Big Bay De Noc, remnants of the shipping docks)
Trout Lake, Michigan. This limestone Quarry was much more than just that. Within its walls lies an abandoned town that was founded in 1905, who’s sole purpose was to ship high calcium limestone Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Much like the story of Fayette, citizens eventually were out of work so they up and left. An old school house, train house, and other miscellaneous structures still stand at this nearly inaccessible, but worth while sight.
Near Naubinway, Michigan. None of the locals are even able to recall the family members of these tombstones that were forgotten about hundreds of years ago. There are two still standing, one of a 15 year old and this one, of a 2 year old. According to vacationers and locals, more stones used to stand but eventually withered away. Nobody knows how many children lie beneath this part of the forest, just a few miles away from the shores of Lake Michigan.
Detroit, Michigan. Many people don’t know this, but Belle Isle is actually the largest park in the US. Taking up a whole island between Toronto, Ontario and Detroit, this was once a booming place for families to spend time, one of the main attractions being the zoo. The city of Detroit eventually went bankrupt due to the corruption of government, forcing Belle Isle to close it’s doors, including the zoo. For years Belle Isle was a home of heavy crime and gang activity, but in recent years the state has taken control and cleaned up the beautiful island. The zoo, amongst other abandoned buildings, still stand unoccupied and heavily vandalized.
Paradise, Michigan. Also called the graveyard of the Great Lakes, Whitefish Point was one of the first established lighthouses on the coast of Lake Superior. This is the famous port is where The Edmond Fitzgerald sailed out. When the vessel sunk they were only about 20 miles away from here. 19 men lost their lives and their bodies were never found. Another shipwreck is also known for washing 17 dead bodies on this very shore. Many locals say that there are spirits that linger in the light house and along the beach. The Crew Quarters hotel is said to be very haunted, a friend of mine stayed here and had her cover pulled off of her twice within the night, while her friend was sound asleep in the bed next to her.
