Fayette Historic Townsite: October 2013

Here's our newest fundraising project!

We've just published a photo book about Fayette Historic Townsite. All profits will go to our Friends of Fayette Historic Townsite treasury.

Perhaps you've been to Fayette and taken photos of the townsite. Here's a collection all in one book--winter, summer, spring, and fall photos of the buildings and harbor from many different angles. And something more that you don't have in your collection: captions taken from historic newspapers about the activities occurring in the buildings, in the harbor, at the furnace, with the town doctor. Here's what one reviewer had to say about Picturing Fayette:

I visited Fayette many years ago, but when I read this book, I found myself wondering why I have stayed away so long. This beautiful book is not a complete history but a short collection of photographs of the various buildings at Fayette. Multiple photos are provided for each building, and I especially love that they were taken at all different seasons of the year so we see the glory of spring, the splendor of autumn, and the deep snows of winter. The various buildings all have descriptions for them and as a nice addition, they include excerpts from various newspapers in the surrounding area--Negaunee, Escanaba, etc.--recording different events that happened that relate to the individual buildings as well as in the harbor, ranging from drownings to accidents and horses kicking people in the skull to doctors holding raffles and disputes at township elections. These excerpts make the life of this small town come to life, and the photographs made me almost expect to see the 1870s residents of the town to open the building's doors and recreate their life before my eyes. Anyone who loves Fayette will love this book and how it captures so many views and different angles of this fascinating company town.--Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of several titles about Marquette, Michigan

Here's a little more about Picturing Fayette

Fayette Historic Townsite in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan offers visitors a step back in time to a nineteenth century company town. Here, nestled beneath a towering limestone bluff on Lake Michigan, the Jackson Iron Company operated two iron smelting furnaces. From December 25, 1867 to December 1, 1890, hot iron poured forth into casting houses, was cooled and separated into “pigs”, and shipped to Ohio aboard schooners. Today, several original structures give testimony to Michigan’s industrial past—from the laborers’ log cabin, to the managers’ salt box homes, to the “Big White House” on the bluff that was occupied by the superintendent. In the center of all these stands the working core of the once-thriving village—the furnace stacks, casting houses, company store, warehouse, town hall, company office, machine shop, and hotel. Through the pages of this book, tour this fascinating open air museum that offers million-dollar views of the harbor, bay, and quaint remnants from nearly 150 years ago. Quotes from newspapers of that era serve as captions, bringing the town to life. Fayette Historic Townsite is without a doubt one of the best-preserved company towns in America and a gem of Michigan history that is unlike any other.

ISBN 978-0-923048-54-9 Trade Paperback, 8.5"x8.5"; 24 full-color pages.
CLICK HERE TO SEE INSIDE THE BOOK
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