There's another little ghost town just hangin' out in the Michigan Mitten. This one lies in Easton Township, Ionia County.

It's the former town of Dildine...is it pronounced 'Dil-DYNE' or 'Dil-DEEN'? No idea what the pronunciation is for sure.

Dildine is not even referred to as a town anymore...it's more of a hamlet. It was named in 1899 when a post office was established, and named after the Dildine family who owned several pieces of land in the area. When the Dildines moved in as far back as the 1840s, the community had no name.

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An 1875 atlas shows a couple of Dildine family members: William, who owned a couple of parcels of land, and a “D. Dildine”. It was William who first settled on this land in 1843.

The 'town' had a Methodist church and a one-room schoolhouse as far back as the 1870s and both buildings are still there at the intersection of Dildine Road (naturally) and Bellamy Road, which appears to be where the center of 'town' was.

The post office lasted only three years, closing in 1902, with Manly Lansing as postmaster.

There are a handful of old farmhouses around but no stores or shops whatsoever. Manly Lansing is said to have also been a storekeeper, so I'm guessing there might have been a store somewhere here...or maybe he worked in another town.

The gallery below shows the old church and school that still await your visit. You'll also see the inside of an old 1924 Dildine farmhouse before it was renovated.....looking very 1920-ish, indeed.

One last thing though.....what did the residents of Dildine call themselves?

The Ghost Town of Dildine, Ionia County

MORE MICHIGAN GHOST TOWNS:

Inside the Buildings of the Ghost Town of Watson

The Ghost Town of Alabaster

The Ghost Town of Mandan

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