FAYETTE Ghost Town - Where time stands still
By: Sandy Steele

As boaters, we all have our favorite memories of different harbors and places that we have visited, with some being etched in our memories more than others. Some memories can be so strong that just the mention of the town's name can bring a flood of feelings that can tug at your heartstrings. For my husband, Cliff, and I the ghost town of Fayette, Michigan can do just that to us. It was over 25 years ago when we first heard about the fabled ghost town of Fayette, Michigan and its snail shell harbor up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We were on our annual family boating trip up in Door County on Lake Green Bay with our two children, Scott and Tina, when we happened to meet some boaters who were eager to share with us their stories about cruising up to Fayette. As we listened to the details of this historic town and its protected harbor, we were hooked! We had always teased around that our family was kind of like gypsies in the water, in that we loved going from port to port, so it was an easy decision to chart a compass course the following morning up to Fayette.

As we left Sister Bay in Door County, Wisconsin going north towards Michigan's Garden Peninsula in Big Bay De Noc, we passed Washington Island, St. Martin Island and Little Summer Island on the right. We calculated that Fayette was about 45-50 miles away. Out in these open waters in between the islands is where Lake Green Bay and Lake Michigan merge and become like an "inland ocean". When touring any of these waters, always remember that weather changes quickly here. Make sure you have updated charts, a GPS that you know how to use, a VHF radio for emergencies and weather and at least a 2 good anchors. It is also best to travel these waters in the early morning before the winds start up as it can get pretty wild out there. We were fortunate that the water wasn't too rough on our first trip up there with our 21 ft. Winner boat. We were told to look for tall majestic limestone bluffs on the right with a #2 red buoy marking the channel once we got into Big Bay De Noc.

Except for glimpses of weather worn buildings through the trees, the harbor is undetectable coming from the south, blending in with the rugged shoreline. Once we spotted the #2 red buoy, the entrance didn't become apparent until we got closer to the limestone bluffs. Then, all of a sudden, this little jewel of a harbor appeared with remnants of limestone structures and old weathered buildings in the far distance on the shoreline. It looked like something out of a history book! The snail shell harbor is plenty deep with rotting pilings from years past still visible below the surface. As we entered the harbor, you could almost visualize the ships of yesteryear and what it must have been like a century ago. We have been to other natural harbors over the years, but this little hidden treasure far outshines any of the others. Boats could tie up along the pilings which were next to small rickety piers on shore. As you step off your boat, it truly is like going back in time.

Fayette's booming days started in 1867 when Jackson Iron Company turned the town into one of Upper Peninsula's most productive iron-smelting operations due in part to its large supply of limestone and hardwood. It was a hard life for the immigrants that lived and worked in this smoky grimy industrial furnace town. Its heyday came to an end in 1891 after their hardwood supplies were depleted and big business found new ways of doing things. Gone is the noisy pollution from years ago. What's left today is a quiet, peaceful harbor that the State of Michigan turned into a state park in 1958. In its day, this community town boasted beehive-shaped charcoal kilns, a drug store, company store, machine shop, opera house, houses and even a big hotel with a two story outhouse, to name a few. Today, visitors to Fayette State Park can see 20 historic structures, including several public and commercial buildings, residences that housed the people of Fayette and the stabilized ruins of the furnace complex.

The state has also built a beautiful visitor center (which cannot be seen from the harbor) complete with a gift shop at the top of the hill, which includes a scale model diorama of the original town site. With a push of a button, the town lights up and narration begins giving the visitors some history of what Fayette used to be like. They have self guided tour maps available as well as guided tours. A campsite is within walking distance of the town site and is equipped with electrical hookup, water, and pit facilities. In the first few years that we visited Fayette, there was a woman available that would bring down groceries to boaters upon request in a cart that was pulled by her dog. Unfortunately, that service isn't available anymore, so you will have to come fully stocked! Fayette can also be reached by land from M-183, between Manistique and Escanaba, 17 miles south of U.S. 2.

The first thing you notice is how quiet it is - there's no bustling marina here, no busy highways filled with cars, and no phones, just dirt roads with weather beaten buildings and stories of a town that once was. The rugged beauty of this harbor and its solitude takes your breath away. We laugh about this now, but when we first came into the harbor; my husband could see some nuns with habits walking along the shore. Since we had never been there before, he assumed that possibly this was a site of a Monastery instead of Fayette. We later found out that the nuns were visiting Fayette just like us!

Just on the other side of the snail-shaped peninsula is the beginning of a beautiful sand beach that stretches 4 miles south which is littered with pieces of slag from its mining days. Even though our kids were only 5 and 8 at the time, they loved hearing all about the history of Fayette. We still smile when we think of the question our 5 year old daughter, Tina, had after we had spent the whole day touring the town with one of the park rangers, asking questions along the way. The only thing she needed to know was "if people 100 years ago wore underwear". (We told her they did!)

As far as supplies, gas and groceries are available in the town of Garden, Michigan which is 10 miles north of Fayette. It gets very shallow the closer you get to Garden so you should keep a close watch on your depth sounder. Since this is a very small town, there are very limited stores here.  If you love to anchor out rather than tie up, then you should visit South River Bay which is 5 miles north of Fayette. It is a very protected and picturesque anchorage with water lilies and frogs all over the place.

One year we stopped down at Fairport on the way up to Fayette for fresh fish which is just north of Little Summer Island on Michigan's Garden Peninsula. It is a very small fishing port and is a little tricky getting in there, especially on a windy day, but when you don't fish and want fresh fish to cook for dinner, it is worth the trip. It might be a good idea to wear a hat around here as there are sea gulls by the hundreds flying around waiting for their own fish dinner.

Also one year we visited Burnt Bluff which is about 5 miles south of Fayette. It has a small harbor with a beautiful high overlook. They had cottages for rent and would open up their main building for boaters to come in and visit for awhile which was really nice. On our first visit there, we were told to pick out a flat rock and write the name of our boat on it as well as our names and what town we were from. We then laid it down outside where we found numerous other handwritten rocks from past boaters that had visited here which gave us a sense as to how many other people had found their way to this tiny port. Unfortunately, they have since sold their place and have heard that the harbor isn't open to the public now.

We visited Fayette quite a bit when our kids were younger but hadn't been back in 15 years. Two years ago we decided it was time to go back up there and experience the lure of Fayette again. As we passed the #2 buoy and came into the channel, it was like visiting an old friend again. However many times you come up to visit this harbor, it is hard not to be moved by the vision of its weather worn buildings standing tall along the shore overlooking the tall limestone bluffs that turn pink when the sun goes down. More work had been done on the restoration of the town and the state added a beautiful new dock along the shore. The best part of the trip was finding out that "The Blessing of the Fleet" which had been going on for 55 years, was to take place the following day in the harbor for all the boats. In all the years that we had been going up there, we never knew about this annual event and were thrilled that we could be part of it. We had gotten there early in the day and by day's end, the boats were tied up two deep along the dock and the harbor was filled with anchored boats, all anxious to be part of this event.

The following day was no exception. There was a flurry of activity everywhere - the hotel was getting ready for its "pie social", the remains of the community store was the site for a hot dog and brats lunch, chairs were being brought into the old furnace building for the service and even a horse-drawn wagon was brought in to shuttle visitors back and forth between the parking lot and town site. Then, a little before noon, a bagpiper followed by the Rev. James Garland, bishop of the Marquette Diocese from Marquette, came down the hill forming a procession leading into the old furnace building. After the services started, a hush came over the crowd as the names were read of all the mariners that had lost their lives in the waters up in that area over the years. A very large heavy bell sits right outside the old furnace building along the shore and as each name was read, the bell was rung. After the service, a walking procession started again with the bagpiper and bishop towards a large fishing vessel tied up along the shore. Once everyone got aboard, they slowly moved alongside every boat in the harbor blessing each one along the way, even our Bayliner, 4's Enough. Then a wreath was thrown out into the water in remembrance of the people lost. After the Blessing of the Fleet was done, a bugler high on top of the limestone cliffs played the taps which echoed thru the bluffs. On that warm July afternoon, Fayette's history was able to once again move us in a profound way.

There was no shortage of goose bumps that afternoon. Cliff later told me with a grin that he was talking to the Capt. of the fishing boat (whose boat was part of the Blessing of the Fleet) before the service and told him how he was looking forward to having our boat blessed. The Capt. told Cliff that he didn't want his boat blessed again because after the bishop blessed his boat last year he had nothing but problems with his motor. (I'm sure it was just a coincidence!)

It was a sunny and warm day and everyone was having fun. The lunch was great and the pie social was a definite hit. We had never seen Fayette so full of people! Later in the day, slowly everything was picked up, and by day's end, it was as if no one had ever been here. Fayette was back to being a ghost town once again.

You always meet the nicest people boating and this trip was no exception. We met Nick and Sherry Edson in Sister Bay who keep their Bayliner yacht in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and told them all about Fayette and encouraged them to cruise up there sometime. We motored to Fayette the following morning and by day's end, they had cruised up there too and were excited to hear about the Blessing of the Fleet. On one of the nights we were there with them, we found out there was a little place to eat way out south past the camping area so the four of us decided to hike there. Our walk brought us past one of the older cemeteries in Fayette, St. Peters, where some of the first residents of Fayette are buried. Even though it is very small and suffers from years of neglect, it is hauntingly eerie, especially the two large wooden crosses we found precariously leaning up against a tree. We couldn't help but wonder what a hard life it must have been for the immigrants that lived up there over a century ago.

The weather has a way of changing up here and in a few short hours, the winds went from calm to gale force winds. Even though the winds were howling, 4's Enough was still in the protective custody of Fayette's snail shell harbor. On one day the beautiful Inland Seas Schoolship sailing vessel came into port. It is a sailing classroom outfitted with the latest scientific equipment to enable students to study the Great Lakes ecosystem. They invited us aboard and gave us a tour. While they were there, we took a photo of their vessel which later ended up in their newsletter. When the winds are calm, the Inland Seas is powered by, none other than, a John Deere diesel tractor engine. I am sure it is a summer that the students won't soon forget.

On one moonlit night on the back of our boat, Cliff surprised me with a watch that he bought up at the gift shop that had a vintage look complete with replicas of old buttons on the band. Fond memories of Fayette come up every time I wear it.
The only thing different about our last trip was that our kids weren't along. They are married now and have families of their own but still hold fond memories of this fabled ghost town. As 4's Enough motored out, we thought of all the stories it still holds about the people that once lived there. A quiet solitude is all that is left as north winds blow across the harbor towards the vacant windswept buildings on the hill. For the short time that we were there, Fayette gave us glimpses of its past. Now the town that once was lives only in our imagination.