The Michigan Ghost Town That Turned a Forest Into Iron

Fayette, Michigan looks peaceful today — a preserved historic town overlooking Snail Shell Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan. But in the late 1800s, this quiet corner of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was an industrial machine. Between 1867 and 1891, the Jackson Iron Company built an entire community around two charcoal blast furnaces. Iron ore arrived by ship. Hardwood forests became charcoal. Limestone came from the cliffs. And nearly 230,000 tons of pig iron left Fayette for the growing industrial cities of the Great Lakes. Then the economic equation stopped working. In this episode of Beyond the Marker, we explore why Fayette was built, how the furnaces worked, what life was like in the company town, why the industry disappeared — and how Michigan managed to save much of the town before it vanished completely. Episode 1 — Gilman, Colorado:    • The Abandoned Colorado Town You’re Not All...   Chapters: 00:00 The Harbor 01:31 Why Here? 03:23 A Company Town 05:14 230,000 Tons 06:34 When the Equation Broke 08:21 The Town Michigan Saved 09:54 Place Number Two #Michigan #UpperPeninsula #GhostTown #FayetteMichigan #MichiganHistory #IndustrialHistory #AbandonedPlaces #BeyondTheMarker