Category Archives: Ghost towns

Cooppersville Wild West Town

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Located near Lewiston, Michigan, Coopersville Wild West Town offers a quirky and unique experience, transporting visitors to a bygone era. This privately built, unofficial “town” is a passion project filled with rustic buildings, antiques, and memorabilia reminiscent of the Old West, particularly honoring the legendary John Wayne. Guests can wander through the various structures, offering a hands-on glimpse into a simplified past and providing memorable photo opportunities in a truly distinctive setting.

The town was created by local resident Spike Cooper who passed away in 2020. A stone memorial stands in the center of the “home-made” town in his memory. While not a commercially operated theme park, Coopersville exudes a charming, homespun authenticity. Its collection of weathered buildings and artifacts creates a tangible connection to the spirit of the Wild West. For those seeking an offbeat adventure and a chance to step back in time, this labor of love near Lewiston provides a memorable and engaging detour.

P.S. Don’t get it confused with the real town of Coopersville near Grand Rapids.

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Central Mine Ghost Town

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

located way up in the Keweenaw Peninsula between Calumet and Copper Harbor off US-41 is the former mining town of Central Mine. It was also the name of the company that built the town. The mine was open in the 1850s and closed in the 1890s after the copper ore was depleted. The town at one time had a population of 900 residents. The miners who were mostly immigrants from Cornwall England moved away after The Central Mine turned off the pumps and sealed the shafts. In the 1950s, the last permanent resident in the town of Central Mine abandoned the once booming little town.

The Keweenaw County Historical Society owns 38 acres of the old Central Mine site and town. It operates the visitors center located in a former house. The society has also restored several houses and buildings in the old town. In the summer months, some buildings are open to visitors and decorated with antiques from the period they were built. Its closed up in the winter but it was fun to drive through it and imagine what it must have been like before four wheel drive trucks and snowmobiles.

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The Old Church and the Town of Luce

Posted on by Posted in Churches, Forgotten Places, Ghost towns .

In southern Saginaw County, near the intersection of Burt and Bishop Roads, a weathered wooden church stands serenely amidst the farmlands. Just a short distance east, where Burt Road crosses Fairchild Creek, once thrived the town of Luce. Established in 1890 with its own post office, the town faded away when the post office closed in January 1914. Luce, named for Michigan’s 21st governor, Cyrus G. Luce (1887-1890), shares this honor with Luce County in the Upper Peninsula. Governor Luce was the last Michigan governor to have a county named after him.

The age of the church remains unknown, as does whether it was built by Luce’s residents. However, its proximity to the former town site is undeniable. A nearby cemetery and the church itself are likely the only remnants of the once-bustling community.

I took a pic of this old church about ten years ago and the photo graces the photo of my first book. In the decade since, the roof of the old church has collapsed. It is sad to see it deteriorate.

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The Fallasburg Bridge

Posted on by Posted in Bridges, Ghost towns .

Michigan has only a few covered bridges that you can drive your vehicle across. One of those bridges is the historic Fallasburg Bridge a few miles north of Lowell near Grand Rapids. To get to the bridge from Lowell you need to go through Bridge Park that sits along the Flat River. Doc Brown from Back To The Future built a time machine, but if you ever want to travel back in time all you have to do is drive across the Fallasburg Bridge. Just be sure not to go 88 miles per hour as the sign on the bridge states “$5 fine for riding or driving on this bridge faster than a walk. ”

John and Silas Fallas came to the area from New York in 1837 and built a sawmill and chair factory. The Flat River and hardwood forests that lined it made an excellent location for lumbering. They built a grist mill for grinding grains, which powered by a waterwheel turned by the current of the river. The biggest challenge they faced was crossing the river. In 1840 the brothers built the first bridge to cross the river. This bridge was destroyed by the ice flows and rising water in the spring. The next two bridges survived a little while longer and the town began to prosper. With the sawmill, grist mill and bridge the town thrived. The main road from Grand Rapids to Detroit came through the town that had been named after the brothers. The town of Fallasburg began to decline after the railroad decided the train would pass through the nearby town of Lowell, bypassing the once bustling little community. The covered bridge was built in 1871 in hopes that it would make traveling to the town easier but the iron horse was far superior to the real ones that pulled wagons. After the dam was built in Lowell the river no longer flowed like it used to, and the once mighty river no longer had the power to run the mill. The town basically disappeared from the map after that.

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The Ghost Town of Watson

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

County Road 426 runs along the center part of the Upper Peninsula. It passes through the old town of Watson. A few homes still stand in the area but it looks as if it has been a long time since the old store was open for business. At one time an IGA sign hung from the metal bar at the top of the building but that is gone. The old building just stands by the road watching cars pass by remembering the days when people stopped for groceries.

If you thought this post was interesting, I hope you will take a look at my new Michigan Ghost Town book on Amazon HERE 

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Michigan’s Old Western Town

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If you are looking for someplace different to visit that few people know about you need to stop by the old western town of Coopersville. You won’t find it on a map of Michigan since it’s not an official town. It was built by Spike Cooper who is a big fan of westerns and John Wayne. Over the years he has built an old west style town and welcomes people to come visit. It’s full of interesting antiques and funny signs adorning its many buildings. the town has a general store, livery, jail, and a cemetery. Spike Cooper passed away a few years ago but his friends and family keep his little town alive.

the address is: 
1860 Fire Tower Road
Lewiston, MI 49756

It has a Lewiston address but its centrally located between Lewiston Grayling and Mio. you can see it on google maps HERE

It’s not far from Hartwick Pines and would be a good place to check out along with the logging museum and chapel at Hartwick Pines State Park.

One last thing. do not confuse it with the actual town of Coopersville near Grand Rapids.

I hope you will take a look at my new Michigan Ghost Town book on Amazon HERE 

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Herman: Then and Now

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, small towns, upper peninsula .

While doing research for my Michigan Ghost Town book I came across an old photo of the town of Herman from the 1940s. The town is in the Huron Mountains southeast of L’Anse. I recognized the old store next to the railroad tracks in the old photo.

The town has changed a lot in the past 80 plus years. The buildings on the left are gone and the nice looking building on the right is slowly collapsing. You can see my post about it HERE 

Its interesting to see pics of the way things were and compare them to what there is now. I wish I could go back in time to visit some of the places I have posted about but the closest I can come to doing that is looking at old photographs.

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Big Rock

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It is said that when an iceberg is floating in the ocean you can only see about ten percent of it sticking out of the water. That is the case for the giant boulder that is sticking out of the ground in northern Michigan. No one knows for sure how large the “big rock” is that protrudes from the ground, but it can be seen on M-32 between Gaylord and Atlanta. At on time a lumbering community was settled around it and was given the name Big Rock for obvious reasons. Nothing remains from the old sawmill town but the rock and a couple of signs describing it.

If you want to know more about Michigan ghost towns I hope you will take a look at my new book on Amazon HERE 

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The Forgotten Town Near The Falls

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

I saw this old shack or house or whatever it was not far from the waterfalls I stopped to visit. Looking on the map I show both the town of Dixon and Forest Lake on the map and it is not far from Au Train Falls. I am not sure if this is the last remaining structure from the town. It was first named Dixon when it was founded in 1890 by the Cleveland Cliffs Company which did a lot of mining of iron ore throughout the Upper Peninsula. It got a post office in 1915 but then it changed names to Forest Lake in 1921. The days of mining and lumbering are long gone and the area is mostly outdoor recreation used by hunters and fishermen and fisherwomen.

If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula or reading about its unique places, I hope you will take a look at my new book LOST IN MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA available on Amazon HERE

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The Ghost Town of Stratford

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About five miles west of Higgins Lake along N. 13 Mile Road is a wooden sign for the long gone town of Stratford. The town started in 1897 when  the Thayer Lumber Company purchased 13400 acres of virgin red and white pine The railroad laid tracks to the lumber town and hauled the logs out for twelve years. The population of Stratford grew to about 1200 people and had a hotel, general store and several saloons.

By 1908 the surrounding trees were gone and the workers and citizens abandoned the town. The region was purchased by the state in 1937.  Nothing remains of the town but memories and signs placed to mark the location of some of the buildings. Down the road about a quarter mile is an ORV/snowmobile trailhead parking lot. Location of the town is a nice place to check out and wonder what it must have been like living there more than a century ago.

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