The Michigan Ghost Towns of Cutcheon and Gregoryville

Here are a couple of ghost towns in Michigan that may peak your curiosity enough for you to do a drive-thru. One still has an old one-room schoolhouse - basically the only thing remaining that shows there was once a community here. The second one doesn’t show up anywhere: not on any map or atlas…and information isn’t easy to find.

The first one is Cutcheon, not much more than a postal station in Missaukee County, named in the summer of 1884 after congressman Byron M. Cutcheon. Byron achieved the rank of colonel during the Civil War until he resigned in 1865. He moved to Ypsilanti and worked in the law office of his brother, Sullivan; then in 1867 he moved to Manistee where he became the city attorney, prosecuting attorney of Manistee County, and postmaster.

After honoring the congressman by naming their village after him, Cutcheon began to grow rapidly during the lumber boom. With their success, the population grew to 1,300 and became one of the region’s largest towns. Tragically, as with many small Michigan lumber towns, a fire broke out, spread, and burned down the town. It never recovered. People left for a life elsewhere and the town was never salvaged. To this day, all that’s left are a smattering of a few homes and the old schoolhouse.

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The other town that seems to elude historians is the off-the-radar town of Gregoryville, located on the east end of Torch Lake in Houghton County. It was named after Joseph Gregoire (later anglicized to 'Gregory'), who settled there in 1867. He co-operated a sawmill until 1872 when he bought out the other owners. But in 1876 a fire broke out, causing over $20,000 in damages. A makeshift mill was built which provided timber for nearby Calumet and Hecla.

A $4,000 half-mile racetrack was laid out in 1882, providing the community with some state-of-the-art fun. But the track, the mill, and the town did not last. Today it is a mostly-forgotten hamlet with just a very few houses in the area and the Maple Leaf Inn...and not even a blip on old atlases or maps.