A Church is All That’s Left of the Michigan Town of Hockaday

Here's another Michigan ghost town for ya: Hockaday in Butman Township, Gladwin County. Hockaday (sometimes incorrectly spelled as 'Hocaday') is an unincorporated community smack on the junction of Hockaday and Ritchie roads about ten miles north of Gladwin.

In 1881, John Yeager Sr. and his wife arrived and were instrumental in naming this new community ‘New Sanilac’ as they came here from Sanilac County.

In 1901-1902 a post office was established inside a grocery store owned by Robert Hockaday; he became the town’s first postmaster and the town was obviously named after him.

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At one time, this former lumber town boasted not just a post office, but a butcher shop, church, general store, grist mill, sawmill, schoolhouse, and shingle mill. Hockaday's post office closed for good in January 1913 and by 1918 only 50 residents were left.

Nowadays, the only community service is a lone church, at the intersection of Hockaday & Ritchie roads. About a mile east on Ritchie Rd. is some kind of a store that may or may not be closed. There is a small community still there but it's a far cry from what it once was.

Hockaday is another old Michigan lumber town that sits out in the isolated countryside, forgotten by most, embraced by all who still live there.