This Michigan State Park Could Be Right Out of a Stephen King Novel
You want spooky, chilling, and weird? Michigan's got that for you, and more. There's a lot of horror stories one could easily find across the state, but rarely can you find a place so eerie, you could swear it came right off the pages of a Stephen King novel.
Well, turns out, there is a real place like this, and it's a State Park in the Upper Peninsula. This is one place you'll want to be out of by sunset for sure.
The Park is actually what's left of the historical town of Fayette, Michigan, located on the tip of the Garden Peninsula, of the Upper Peninsula. The State Park surrounding the historic town was established in 1956, but the town itself was first established in the 1860s - about 30 years after statehood.
Fayette was an industrial town that mostly manufactured "Pig Iron," which is then used to make steel in other manufacturing plants. At one time, it was the most productive iron-smelting operation in the entire Upper Peninsula, which is saying a lot since ore is one of the main exports of the area.
The town boomed after the Civil War when the need for steel became more prevalent, and the blast furnaces would churn out nearly 230,000 tons of iron during its operation.
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However, in the 1890s, the market for pig iron declined, and ultimately, the smelting operations were closed in 1891, resulting in the town's quick downfall, but they weren't done yet.
They became a fishing and resort village in the northern part of Green Bay, and in 1916, a wealthy individual purchased the entire town, and turned it into their own personal resort. The town would go through two more owners before it was handed over to the Michigan State Government.
But what's wild about this small town is how little has changed, despite it's 150+ years of adapting to the times.
The visuals when you walk on to the property are right out of a creepy Stephen King novel, complete with old buildings, icy waters, and steep stone cliffs covered in trees. You'd swear you were transported back in time with the structures from the old smelter and blast furnace building's still standing next to the old town hall, carriage house, and even some homes.
You can practically still hear the workers hammering away at the iron.
Maybe it isn't an ACTUAL setting for a Stephen King novel, but could inspire some young "Yooper," or visitor to come up with their own psychological thriller about an abandoned Iron Smelter town that is literally a step back in time in the Upper Peninsula.
Lafayette State Historical Park Is Straight Out Of a Stephen King Novel
Gallery Credit: Yotuube/Visit Escanaba