The Michigan 'Wild West' Town That Failed

There have been a few ‘wild west’ town replicas here in Michigan that have been successful for tourists and vacationers...such as Huckleberry Railroad, Stagecoach Stop, Frontier City, and Coopersville. But one western town had high hopes but just failed to click.

The village of Jones was settled in Cass County in the early 1830s, platted in 1897, and originally called ‘Newberg’.

Ed Lowe was born in 1920 and spent his high school years in nearby Cassopolis. It was in the late 1940s when Ed created the product that would make him rich: cat litter. Tidy Cat, to be exact. Once Ed amassed a decent fortune, he began investing in more ideas...one of them was to make his own western town replica.

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So in 1970, Ed found the little village of Jones, bought the whole town, and set out to turn it into a “Dodge City” western town attraction. Spending approximately one million dollars, Ed redeveloped some of the buildings to resemble western architecture.

Customers could visit the downtown that included an opera house, the Red Garter Saloon, glass blower, gunsmith, haunted house, print shop, sawmill, and stagecoach.

Disappointed that his dream-western town failed to catch on, Ed Lowe passed away in 1995, a multi-millionaire at the age of 75.

Driving down that lonely downtown street now, you’ll see some of the abandoned buildings that still exist, along with some that have turned into homes. The Tumbleweed Saloon is the coolest thing still there, even though at one point it had been used as a chiropractic shop. It was left deserted in 2022.

Located between Cassopolis and Three Rivers, there are several residents in this “ghost of a ghost town” and, even though it’s not functional, it’s still a treat to see...and get some selfies before someone tears it all down.