Fayette, Michigan’s #1 Ghost Town: 1867-1891

It’s touted as Michigan’s #1 Ghost Town...maybe it is, I won’t quibble. But for my own personal tastes, I prefer the Michigan ghost towns that haven’t been turned into tourist traps. Visiting Fayette is extremely enjoyable and historic..... but it doesn’t give you that eerie sensation that comes over you when you visit one of our other, more secluded ghost towns that doesn’t have lots of other people gawking and getting in your way.

Fayette sits in the Garden Peninsula, in the UP’s Delta County.

The Jackson Iron Company created the whole town in 1867 during its attempt to build a charcoal iron smelter. As the village grew, a post office was implemented in 1870. Fayette fast became a bustling, enterprising & energetic city in the late 1800s, known for their pig iron and smelting operations.

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These operations included blast furnaces, over 80 charcoal kilns, lime kiln, and a machine shop with surrounding structures. Between 1867-1891, Fayette produced over 225,000–230,000 tons of pig iron.

Other businesses in Fayette included a company general store, a retail store, stage lines, livery, blacksmith, the Shelton House Hotel, a 100-student schoolhouse, opera house/town hall, doctor, and insurance company. Farming and fishing also helped to sustain the residents.

They had plenty to do for entertainment as well: they had the Coronet (not cornet) Band, baseball team, and a track for horseracing.

When the blast furnace was taken apart in 1891, that was it for the village. The town has no more residents but is now a state park that we can all visit and wander through, with many of the buildings still standing and preserved while some of the missing residences are marked by their stone foundations only.

Best time to visit is AFTER summer, when all the tourists have gone away..... that way, it’s a very good chance you’ll get to wander through this famous ghost town all by yourself.