The Ghost Town of Abscota in Calhoun County, Michigan

There is a curious little community that sits in Calhoun County that is now referred to as a 'ghost town'. There is very, very little written about this place in Burlington Township, but here is what was found.

This former village was called Abscota, with the first land owner, John Westlake, arriving in 1834. The land was named 'Wet Prairie', and in 1836 it was sold to David Coddingham. Two years later, in 1838, Coddingham sold it to Abram Kimble. That same year, a post office was implemented and Kimble became the first postmaster; the post office was named 'Abscota'. When the post office closed for good in 1900, the village ceased to grow.

Looking at an 1894 atlas, it seemed that Abscota was on its way: it shows a church, numerous downtown shops, a school, cemetery, and post office. Currently, in the 2020s, the school has been turned into a memorial church, and everything else is gone except for the cemetery and a few houses. One of the houses was originally one of the Abscota stores.

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As for the name 'Abscota'? That's anyone's guess, but I'm thinking it was taken partly from the names ABram and COddingham...just a guess.

The town must have been doing well at one point, seeing as there are well over 600 burials in the cemetery. Abram Kimble passed away in 1850 and is buried in the Abscota Cemetery. John Westlake passed in 1949 and was buried in Three Rivers. No idea about David Coddingham.

The gallery below shows a few images of Abscota as it looks today.