Fayette Historic State Park, Michigan History Center, Fayette, Michigan June 10, 2019
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Other than the furnace complex, the largest of the remaining structures is the Hotel.
It may be mid-June, but the lilacs behind the Hotel are thinking that spring has just arrived.
The Jackson Iron Company Office (left), the remains of the Company Store and Warehouse (right), and the Hotel are at the core of the Fayette townsite.
The Company Store may be in ruins now, but it certainly had a wonderful view of Snail Shell Harbor.
(Above) Troy Henderson describes the day-to-day lives of the residents of Fayette and their families.The Machine Shop building at the rear contains museum exhibits, as do several of the other restored buildings in the Town Center.
(Right) Fayette had a population of around 500.Many were immigrants from Canada and Europe.Throughout Fayette we are reminded about diverse skills and roles of the hard-working men, women, and children that made the town “tick” for 34 years.
The housing stock in Fayette was as varied as the people who lived and worked there.It reflected the social structure of the times. Many lower-class and unskilled workers lived in log cabins like this reconstruction.
Two middle-class houses and foundations of others are located across the street from the Fayette Town Hall/Opera House.Unmarried workers lived in a Boarding House, the Hotel, or with other residents.
The Superintendent’s House sits high over the harbor and the Furnaces, no doubt reflecting his position in the social structure of Fayette.The town doctor and senior managers also lived on the hill.
In 1886, after 3 years as Superintendent, Harry G. Murry, welcomed his new bride to this house in Fayette.Alas they only stayed for one more year before relocating to Low Moor, an iron smelting town in central Virginia.Could the move have been prompted by the winter weather in Fayette?
The Superintendent had only to look out from his front porch to see if the Furnaces across the harbor were making iron.
Do you suppose that the workers were occasionally keeping an eye on the Superintendent from the Casting House doorway?
Photos Courtesy Dawn and Johnny Johnsson, Pat and Mike Kaas.
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