This graveyard hidden back in the woods contains all residents of Bell...that’s right – all are dead – and this is where they reside.

The town of Bell no longer exists, as we’ve related in past articles, but it was time for a return. If the dead don’t rest, why should we? Wandering thru the woods you can still stumble across former remnants of the town of Bell. Many visitors have passed through here and happily, no one has littered, spray-painted, vandalized or desecrated in any way this old ghost town in the forest.

The village of Bell was a lumber town that originated in the 1880s – when the post office closed in 1911, so did the village. It is now consumed by the woods. Keeping out a sharp eye, you can find the old general store wall, a metal shop box, floor beams, an open shop safe, parts of a fallen house, bedsprings, photos, dishes, a crumbling chimney, and other bits and pieces of old Bell buildings.

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That path you’re walking along thru the woods? It was once a downtown street, filled with horses & buggies, shoppers, kids playing, and wagons loaded up and heading home. Another path dead ends at the Bell Cemetery, filled with the folks that toughed it out until the end. Sure, you’re gonna get the usual “oooh, this cemetery is haunted” stuff. But what cemetery isn’t? OF COURSE it is...just like any other.

What happened? Why couldn’t this historic little village be saved from extinction? The same old story: not enough funds or economic worth. So it was deserted and left to be reclaimed by the earth. It’s weird - once you arrive, be still...soak in the fact that there was an active little hamlet right where you are standing. Now filled with ghosts that surround you.

You’ll find Bell Cemetery in Presque Ile County near the Besser Natural Area 14 miles north of Alpena. The gallery below features images and photos you may not have seen before...

Ghost Town of Bell & the Bell Cemetery

MORE MICHIGANIA:

The Ghost Town & Cemetery of Shackhuddle

Ghost Town of Peacock

The Ghost Town of Highwood

 

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