Michigan's Creepiest Town is White Pine? Nah, I Don't Think So

Someone online said the creepiest town they were ever in was White Pine up in the U.P’s Ontonagon County.

I was trying to understand why they felt that way and the only thing I could come up with - was because it seems a little “Twilight Zone-ish". By that I mean, there are many streets lined up with rows and rows of houses with no stores – or people - in sight.

There are a few businesses farther to the east of town, but they don’t seem like enough to sustain this many people. Two diners, a laundromat, some churches, a school...but I didn’t see any grocery stores or gas stations.

Get our free mobile app

The town was built in the 1950s for the miners at the White Pine mine and became another post-war suburb. White Pine was also a station on the Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul Railway and in 1915 was given a post office called “White Pine Mine".

Not so creepy, right? Or maybe the ‘creepiness’ comes from the nearby abandoned mine.

The White Pine mine currently sits flooded and abandoned. It began operating in 1880 and closed in 1882. Investors weren't too pleased with what the mine was able to produce, so they pulled out. In 1907 the mine was given another shot. Shafts were dug deeper and they ended up finding 5,000 tons of ore. Tons of copper and silver were produced but the mine shut down again in 1921, thanks to losing the mine over past due taxes.

When the Korean War rolled around in the 1950s, the mine was re-opened and cranked out much more copper. In 1995, it was shut down permanently and still sits deserted.

While there don’t seem to be any stories about ‘stranger things’ happening in the old mine area, it wouldn’t surprise me if the townspeople had some tales to tell. Or maybe that particular person that mentioned online how scary the town was got creeped out by the abandoned mine ruins. Maybe someday she'll relate something so we could understand a little better...