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The Historic Industrial Town of Fayette |
LAKE MICHIGAN FAYETTE STATE PARK, MICHIGAN Launch: There are public ramps and docks on the east sides of both Little Bay du Noc and Big Bay du Noc, but we thought the best access point was right at Fayette State Park, in Snail Shell Harbor. Nearby campsites: Camping at the State Park. Comments: It is a special treat when there is water access to a State Park - especially if traveling with friends or family who wish to camp ashore. The Garden Peninsula is a pretty cruising area at the north end of Lake Michigan and the historic old town of Fayette, with a sheltered harbor, docks, ramps, campground, and interesting interpretive displays, lies along the west side of the peninsula. |
-- Fayette State Park
-- ----Fayette was a busy industrial town, in the late 1800's, producing charcoal pig iron for shipping down to the lower Great Lakes where steel mills were located. The town developed as a result of high shipping costs at the time. A more efficient transport system was required to reduce those transportation expenses. A blast furnace was constructed at the harborside near the mines, thus concentrating the ore into pig iron, reducing the tonnage shipped, and reducing the cost of shipping. The site of the furnace required a protected, deep water harbor close to the Escanaba ore docks and near limestone and hardwood forests (both required for the smelting operation.)
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The Good Harbor, Limestone Cliffs, Hardwood Forest, and the Ruins of the Original Dock
-- ----There were two blast furnaces, a large dock, and several charcoal kilns after the Civil War. About 500 people lived in the town at the height of activity. The smelting operation was closed in 1891, when the charcoal iron market declined.
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Charcoal Kiln, Blast Furnaces, and Residence
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The Launch Ramp and the Docks
(08/10)
