The long-gone 'town' of Olson is located at the corner of North 9 Mile Rd & West Olson Rd in Lee Township, Midland County.

The township was chartered in 1880 and was an excellent area for farming. The area's main sources of income were shearing sheep and farming corn, hay, oats and wheat.

Many of those farmer fields are now overgrown, with trees replacing crops. The downtown intersection once boasted a post office, grocery/general store and schoolhouse - and just a few feet north was (still is) a church.

The post office was put inside the grocery store in 1895; the postmaster's suggestions for a name kept getting rejected, as each one he came up with was already in use. At one particular meeting, a woman said, "why don't you just name it 'Olson' after my father?" The name was agreed upon and that became the P.O. name...however, the area known as "Olson" never became an official town.

The old general store was moved in 1993 to the Sanford Centennial Museum (where you can see other historical Michigan structures) just  5 1/2 miles northeast of Olson.

The Lee Township Cemetery was established in 1903 and is 2 1/2 miles south on S/ 9 Mile Rd.

Other 'lost' towns in the area include Dutchtown, Floyd, Pines and St. Elmo. These defunct burgs may still have an original building or two still standing to prove they existed.

If you'd like to see some GREAT pictures of Olson, CLICK HERE.

Pay a visit during your next Michigan roadtrip!

MORE GHOST TOWNS:

Buckeye, a Ghost Town in Hillsdale County

The Ghost Town and Orphanage of Assinins

The Ghost Town of Mandan

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