Singapore, Michigan

Common card · No. 413479

Singapore is a ghost town in Michigan, United States. It was a casualty of erosion after the surrounding woods were deforested—exacerbated by the need for lumber to rebuild several Midwestern cities and towns ravaged by fires in 1871. Its ruins are now buried beneath the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck Township, near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas in Allegan County. It was founded in 1836 by New York land speculator Oshea Wilder, who hoped to build a port town to rival Chicago and Milwaukee. At its height, the town boasted three mills, two hotels, several general stores, and a bank and was home to Michigan's first schoolhouse. In total, the town consisted of 23 buildings and two sawmills.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Wystan from Ann Arbor, CC BY 2.0