Remembering Michigan’s Towns Swallowed By Time And Nature

Throughout the hundreds of years that Michigan has been inhabited, there are many small towns of villages and cities that have come and gone with the changing of time.

Whether it be towns that were lost in time, or towns that were eventually absorbed by larger cities, There are unfortunately some towns that have not been so lucky in their outcome and have been claimed by the Grim Reaper.

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There are four cities in particular that died through various reasons from being claimed by mother nature, a crippled economy, industry, shutting down, or public health crises. Below, we take a look at four former Michigan cities that the Grim Reaper claimed.

Singapore

A 19th-century lumber boomtown that was eventually buried by shifting sand dunes after its logging industry declined and its population dwindled.

Rawsonville

Located in southern Michigan, this town's economy was crippled when it failed to secure railroad service. Later, the construction of a dam along the Huron River submerged the remaining parts of the village under Belleville Lake.

Fayette

This Upper Peninsula town was once a prosperous iron-mining and smelting operation. When the industry shut down, the town was abandoned, and nature gradually reclaimed the buildings and structures.

Pere Cheney

A lumber town that suffered a severe outbreak of diphtheria and subsequent devastating fires, which left the community in ruins and led to its abandonment.