September 12 & 13, 2017 Tuesday & Wednesday
We were delighted with a break in the weather which allowed us to leave Manistique today. Our trip from Manistique to Fayette Historic State Park Marina at Snail Shell Harbor was remarkable, calm blue seas, blue skies, green trees, and white limestone cliffs. This area was described to us as the most beautiful port on Lake Michigan and it is indeed gorgeous.
It is not only gorgeous, it is steeped in history. After the Civil War, the United States was in need of great quantities of iron in order to build its rail system. Processing iron and transporting it to foundries in the lower Great Lakes required hardwood to fuel the furnaces, limestone to purify the iron ore, and a harbor in which to ship from. Fayette Brown, an agent for the Jackson Iron Company, identified Snail Shell Harbor as a perfect spot for the Jackson Iron Company to establish a factory for the production of pig iron. Named after Mr. Brown, Fayette soon became a bustling industrial community whose residents depended on the Jackson Iron Company for housing, medical care, and supplies.
From 1867 to 1891 Fayette was one of the Upper Peninsula’s most productive iron-smelting operations with close to five hundred residents. During that time the Jackson Iron Company’s double blast furnaces produced a total of 229,288 tons of iron, 80 percent of which was used to create steel rails. The Company also build a lime kiln for the manufacturing of lime to use as mortar for masonry, chinking for log houses and plaster for interior walls and to sell to other communities in the area. The limestone was quarried from the one-hundred-fifty-foot high bluff on the eastern curve of the harbor.
With the exhaustion of the forest hardwoods and the decline of the pig iron market, the Jackson Iron Company was forced to close its Fayette plant. The company produced its last pig iron on December 1, 1891. Not such a Merry Christmas to its 500 residents, half of which were under seventeen. Residents were forced to find another way of life, some went to farming, some to the bigger city, and others went “West.” Over the years Fayette went from a company town to a ghost town with few of the old buildings surviving.
In 1959 it became a state park and today is a living museum with twenty restored buildings, outdoor informational displays, and a small museum that we plan on visiting tomorrow. We did a leisurely walk this evening taking in the sites and watching squirrels, chipmunks, and deer as they grazed on grass and consumed apples from trees that were perhaps planted over one-hundred and fifty years ago
Sept. 13-Wed: When Michigan acquired Fayette they announced, “We are not going to reconstruct Fayette to attract tourist dollars, but we are going to preserve Fayette for what it is – an outstanding historical site.” We spent the day marveling at what a great job they have done.
Not only have they preserved the history of Fayette they also have a campground, marina, lodge, and 700 acres of fields, forests and shore for hiking, water activities and picnicking.
