Here is the third volume in the Ghost Towns of Michigan series, featuring 44 of Michigan's most fascinating ghost towns, along with numerous historic photographs. These are stories of land speculators, wildcat bankers, boom-and-bust lumber barons, pioneers who refused to give up, and small towns with big ideas that didn't quite pan out. Read about: * Havre, which drowned in the rising waters of Lake Erie * Eschol, a town that only existed on paper * Armed conflict between Quakers and hunters of fugitive slaves at Calvin Center in 1847 * The bizarre story of a minister-turned-murderer at Rattle RunThe Ghost Towns of Michigan series has become a beloved classic in Michigan's historical literature since the first volume was published in 1994. Engagingly written, with a wry sense of humor and a wealth of historical facts, these tales will inform and entertain anyone who enjoys regional history presented with a storyteller's touch.
Michigan Genealogy identifies records on the state and regional level and then the county level, providing details of vital records, court and land records, military records, newspapers, and census records, as well as the holdings of the various societies and institutions whose resources and facilities support the special needs of the genealogist. This thoroughly revised and expanded edition lists, county by county, the names addresses, websites, e-mail addresses, and hours of business of libraries, archives, genealogical and historical societies, courthouses, and other record repositories; describes their manuscripts and record collections; highlights their special holdings; and provides details regarding queries, searches, and restrictions on the use of their records.
"Many of eastern Michigan's old boomtowns and sleepy villages are faded memories. Nature reclaimed the ruins of some while progress paved over the rest. Discover the stories of lost communities hidden in plain sight or just off the beaten track. The vanished religious colony of Ora Labora fell into a state of near-constant inebriation when beer became the only safe liquid to drink. Lake St. Clair swallowed up the unique currency of Belividere along with the place that issued it. Abandoned towns still crumble within Detroit's city limits. Alan Naldrett delves into the fascinating history of eastern Michigan's lost settlements."-- From back cover.
In the company towns of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a worker's boss did extra duty as landlord, store owner and constable. The on-site mill manager in Simmons, a town named after the furniture maker, even ran a successful baseball team. Built around iron mines and lumber concerns and directed by prominent entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, these industrial hamlets once lined the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior. Author Christian Holmes uncovers rich stories of struggle and celebration as he explores the vestiges of these vanished communities and their lasting legacy in the identity of the Upper Peninsula.
Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press This book features information and travel directions for sixty of Colorado's ghost towns and mining camps. There is an informal history of each town, along with early and contemporary photographs to aid in site identification.
This study is a comprehensive history of these lumbertowns from their inception as frontier settlements to their emergence as reshaped industrial centers.
