The Shadow Town of Moddersville: Missaukee County, Michigan

There once was a village named Moddersville. It boasted a whoppin' 250 residents during its peak, sitting along Thirteen Mile Road in the Missaukee County countryside. Considered a ghost town by some, it does not show up in a Google Map search, although it amazingly is listed on some Michigan road maps.

According to the book Michigan Ghost Towns, the genesis of Moddersville occurred back in 1875 when the first settlers, a family by the name of White, arrived. That was about it for the Whites and the village – they soon split and in 1878 here came the Modders. Wyn and Dick Modders and their families came here from the Netherlands, and soon more of his family arrived.

A post office finally opened twelve years later in 1890, and Wyn was made first postmaster - so it made sense to finally legalize a name for the community, and Moddersville it became. The Modders tradition continued in 1917 when John Modders took over postmaster duties.

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Looking at a satellite view of Moddersville, it may be hard for some to believe, but at one time this village had a blacksmith, clothing store, drug store, feed mill, general store, hardware store, and a couple of sawmills.

The post office shut down for good in 1934 and the last old general store closed its doors in 1967. Today, a newer establishment, the Moddersville Store and Pizzeria, sits at the intersection of South Thirteenth Mile Road and East Finkle Road.....the only link left to an actual village that was once called Moddersville.