List of Washtenaw Cty. Ghost Towns - 2004-11-19 19:47:56
Benton -- US-12 at Feldkamp Rd in Saline Twp
Bridgewater -- Austin Rd at Boettner Rd in Bridgewater Twp
Brookville -- Brookville Rd at Salem Rd in Salem Twp
Canovia -- Rawsonville at Willis in Augusta Twp at Wayne Co line
Delhi Mills -- Huron River Dr at Delhi Rd in Scio Twp (link fm 1874)
Dixboro -- small village NE of Ann Arbor in Superior Twp
Dover Mills -- Dexter-Pinckney Rd at Bell Rd in Dexter Twp
Eastlawn -- Michigan Ave at Harris Rd in Ypsilanti Twp
Emery -- Earhart Rd at Northfield-Church Rd in Northfield Twp
Foster -- Newport Rd at Foster St in Ann Arbor Twp
Fourmile Lake -- Dexter-Chelsea Rd at Lima Center Rd, Lima Twp
Frain Lake -- Plymouth Rd at Albert St in Superior Twp
Fredonia -- Pleasant Lake Rd at Lima Center Rd in Freedom Twp
Geddesburg -- Dixboro at Hogback/Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor Twp
Gravel Run -- Rushton Rd north of Six Mile Rd in Northfield Twp
Guthrie -- Pierce Rd at Garvey Rd in Sylvan Twp
Hudson Mills -- Dexter-Pinckney Rd at N Territorial Rd, Dexter Twp
Jerusalem -- Fletcher Rd at Haist Rd in Lima Twp
Lima Center -- Jackson Rd at Lima Center Rd in Lima Twp
Lincoln -- Willis Rd at Whittaker Rd in Augusta Twp
Lyndon Center -- M-52 at N Territorial Rd in Lyndon Twp
Mooreville -- Mooreville Rd at Denison/Stony Creek, York Twp
Northfield -- Northfield-Church Rd at Nollar Rd in Northfield Twp
Notten -- Notten Rd north of Old US-12 W in Sylvan Twp
Paint Creek -- Willis Rd at Tuttle Hill Rd in Augusta Twp
Parks Corner -- Pleasant Lake Rd at Sylvan Rd in Sharon Twp
Pittsfield -- Marton Rd at Payeur Rd in Pittsfield Twp
Raisin Basin -- Clinton Rd at Braun Rd in Bridgewater Twp
Rawsonville -- Rawsonville at Grove in Ypsi Twp on Wayne Co line
Reynolds Corners -- US-12 at Ely Rd in Manchester Twp
Rogers Corner -- Fletcher Rd at Waters Rd in Freedom Twp
Rowes Corner -- M-52 at Pleasant Lake Rd in Sharon Twp
Salem -- small village in NE corner of Salem Twp
Scio -- Huron River Dr at Zeeb Rd in Scio Twp
Sharon Hollow/Sharonville -- Pleasant Lk Rd at Sharon Hollow Rd, Sharon Twp
�Stony Creek -- Stony Creek Rd at Willis Rd in Augusta Twp
Superior -- Superior Rd north of the Huron River in Superior Twp
Sylvan Center -- Old US-12 W at Fahrner Rd in Sylvan Twp
Urania -- Willis Rd east of Warner Rd in York Twp
Webster -- Jennings Rd at Valentine Rd in Webster Twp
Whittaker -- Whittaker Rd at Talladay Rd in Augusta Twp
Willis -- small village in NE corner of Augusta Twp
Willow Run -- Stamford Rd at MacArthur Blvd in Superior Twp
Worden -- Pontiac Trail at Five Mile Rd in Salem Twp
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Just north of Stony Creek lies this weathered old church overlooking a branch of the Saline River. Behind it is a crumbling two-seater historical outhouse, whose pit led down to the river, and lots and lots of modern-day beehives which were buzzing with bees on a warm November day. The beehives resembled neatly stacked dresser drawers. We peeked in a church window to see the vast interior space had been subdivided into officelike spaces before the site's abandonment.
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A bit north of the church lies Mooreville Cemetery. This cemetery was notable for the unusual wealth of varied grave iconography. Here are 3 examples, from left: the common "clasped hands of farewell," the common "willow tree symbolizing sorrow," and the less-common "wreath."
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I would think the presence of a busy post office would disqualify a place as a ghost town, such as Whittaker and Willis.
Bridgewater has an excellent and thriving lumber yard (with a branch in Saline) and a nice little saloon in the old bank building, not at all ghostly. There's also a bookstore and computer services business, not to mention a beautiful old Ford truck for sale at the used tractor place.
At the general store in Salem we can buy a six-pack and rent a video. The old airport east of town certainly has but ghosts of aircraft and sky-diving festivals like it used to have in the good ol' days.
No doubt about Urania station, though, where 12 railroad cars full of coal each day were brought to heat and power the mental hospital before gas came along to chase the soot away.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-20 17:34:23
It's a mixed list. Some of the communities have, say, a gas station at the crossroads where there once was a thriving community; I doubt that qualifies as a living community, though. Fredonia has a little store on Pleasant Lake. But I doubt people in that area ID themselves as Fredonians. I view the communities on the list, the few that haven't vanished completely, like Lima Center, as living a sort of half-life, with maybe a business or two but not a community life, as in Saline or Milan.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2004-11-21 12:54:34
Each of the four places I suggest don't qualify as ghost towns has a zip code (Bridgewater 48115, Salem 48174, Whittaker 48190, and Willis 48191) and at least Willis and Whittaker will postmark your letters with their names. All four also have active communities of people who think they live in those named places. I know some from each. I'll certainly agree that all four places (and some of the people I know from them) have spooky elements.
Admittedly, the times they are a changin' with the advent of trailer parks, subdivisions, and the death of the old, but sufficient numbers of oldtimers survive to keep these places alive today. Hey, one of 'em told me I live on "Kelly's Curve," a ghostly name I'd only seen on ancient platt (does that have a double t?) maps.
By the way, do you know the book "Michigan Place Names" which describes places on your list and more all around the state? Fun book.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-22 00:42:36
I was wrong, and Raymond is right. I was a tad misled by this list. But today my adventurous friend and I closely inspected Whittaker, Willis, and Bridgewater, and just as you say, they are (especially Willis) viable small communities. We saw the P.O. in Whittaker and the string of businesses (barber, hardware) in WIllis, along Willis Rd. Thank you for the correction, Raymond.
Willis Rd. once had many small communities. Some of the vanished ones are Paint Creek (on Willis just west of Willis village), Lincoln (just west of Paint Creek--the big school system seems to be the only vestige of the name) and the vanished Canovia, just east of Willis on the Wayne County line.
That book sounds very interesting, Raymond--thanks for the tip; I'll have to keep an eye out for it.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2004-11-22 18:37:59
A friend (EMU student from long ago) is visiting from Wisconsin. He accompanied me on a trip to Manchester for a load of hay. We stopped at the old bank building in Bridgewater, now the Bank Bar and Restaurant and had a tasty sandwich, a bottle of beer, and the barmaid dialed a telephone call for me to the hay farmers. A pleasant repast in a friendly, comfortable place. * * * * * * * * * * * * Murph - 2004-11-22 19:19:21
Laura, how do find lists like this? I've now got all of these pencilled in on my washtenaw county road commission map for visiting when I'm bored sometime (like after I graduate...). I'm surprised to see how many show up on mapquest.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-22 22:03:20
Raymond: Funny, I too was in Bridgewater tonight--we took a drive after dinner at the Sidetrack and saw the Bridgewater Depot building on the north side of Austin Rd and some other businesses. OK. We can cross Bridgewater off the ghost-towns list (hey, it's a leraning process--Raymond's kind comments are helping me make this list more meaningful).
Murph, thanks for your question. I found this list at this site (scroll down 1/3 of the page). But I have a map, which I conveniently left in my friend's car, which shows all of the vanished towns. I'll ask my friend what the map name is exactly and who made it (and where you can get one if you like) and post it soon's I know.* * * * * * * * * * * * Murph - 2004-11-22 23:59:50
I think some of these can be described as "hamlets" rather than ghost towns--Bridgewater or Lima Center, for example. (I'm surprised not to see Scio Church on the list, with those two for comparison...) Regardless of what you want to call 'em, though, I think they're all interesting to consider as Places, both in their current form and their historical form. (I take too many urban theory classes, I start spelling Place with a capital "P".) Why is it that your website is so much better a source of local history than, say, the Washtenaw County Historical Society's website?* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-23 00:23:11
Dear Murph, thank you for your very kind comment. My website is only a compendium of stolen tidbits from the Washtenaw Cty Historical website, the Pittsfield Historical Society website, ten thousand other historical websites, and so on. I stand on the shoulders of giants. They did the work--I just gleefully make links and swipe info. Of course, I do visit these Places in the county, not least because they're isolated havens ideal for discreet smooching--er, historical education. At any rate, I am very flattered by your kind comment and I hope to continue to provide you with interesting historical info.
We're clearly in the process of refining the "ghost towns" list into a list of 1. viable small communities and 2. genuine ghost towns, and I'm certainly enjoying learning more about these enigmatic communities, with help from kind readers.
The concepts of Place and community and whether people in these hamlets identify themselves as, say, Bridgewaterians, is fascinating to me.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: