Plainfield is Slowly Disappearing, One Building at a Time

The unincorporated town of Plainfield is northeast of Stockbridge and northwest of Gregory. Even though it qualifies as a ghost town, I'm not sure how the residents would take to that title. It can also be called a partially abandoned town, forgotten town, lost town, and/or isolated village. Either way, it's an historic Michigan village and cool to visit.

Up into the 1800s, the site - which would eventually be named “Plainfield” - was favored by the Indians as a place to camp, as many Indian trails culminated to this area. Then, in 1835, two men from New Jersey – Levi Clawson & Jacob Dunn – came here, purchased some land and settled.

They were joined the following year by another New Jerseyan, Philip Dyer; soon afterward, the 'town' was named after this man (for some reason), “Dyersburg.” The newly established post office was named “Plainfield P.O” in 1837, after another New Jersey town of the same name.

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Aside from the post office (which ceased operation in 1913), Plainfield had two saloons (one owned by Dyer, another by Dunn), a school, M. Topping & Son General Store, O.L. Smith General Store, co-op shop, stave mill, planing mill, Presbyterian Church with attached cemetery (the cemetery's still there, but the church is gone), Methodist Church and two blacksmith shops.

It’s a shame practically all these old buildings are gone except for a couple.
Recently, another of the downtown’s old structures was demolished, leaving only two historic buildings still standing. The classic Plainfield is slowly being eliminated and that’s a dirty shame.

Drive over and get some photos while you can, cuz ya never know how much longer the remaining buildings will stay standing, until some fat-cat land developer comes along and decides to knock 'em down.

Why didn't Plainfield grow like nearby towns Stockbridge and Gregory? A good likelihood is that the railroad was laid through those two towns and completely bypassed Plainfield.