Singapore, Michigan
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Singapore, perhaps Michigan's most famous ghost town, is one of the casualties of the four great fires (Chicago, Holland, Peshtigo, and Manistee) that ravaged the northern midwest on 8 October 1871.[1] Its ruins now lie buried beneath the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas.
Singapore, Michigan was founded in the 1836 by New York land speculator Oshea Wilder, who was hoping to build a port city to rival Chicago and Milwaukee. [2] At its height, the town boasted of three mills, two hotels, several general stores, a renowned bank, and was home to Michigan's first schoolhouse. In total, the town consisted of 23 buildings and two sawmills. [3]
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[edit] The great bank scandal
By 1838, over $50,000 in Singapore Bank notes had been placed in circulation. Shortly after the Civil War, Singapore was involved in a bank scandal. State banks were required to maintain enough hard currency on hand to cover at least 1/3 of the banknotes that were circulating, and neither Singapore nor Allegan was at that level. Allegan State Bank would receive warning from nearby towns that the bank inspector was coming through.
They would arrange for all the money from Singapore State Bank to be transferred to Allegan State Bank. After the inspection, the banker in Allegan would take the bank inspector out and get him drunk. While he slept it off, they would get a head start on him and take all the money from Allegan to Singapore State Bank in time to pass the inspection there. (source: Jack Buist, Allegan High School history teacher, 1948-1988)
[edit] 40-day blizzard
The 40-Day Blizzard of 1842 might very well have wiped out the people of Singapore, had it not been for the shipwreck of the Milwaukie just off her shore. The food with which that ship was stocked nourished the people of Singapore until the blizzard blew over. [4]
[edit] Change of ownership
Wilder deserted the town in 1846, moving back to Calhoun County. James Carter of New York bought out Wilder's interest in the town and moved there to oversee his investment. It was only two years after that that Carter sold the town to his brother, Artemas. Artemas was more innovative than his brother, and very soon after arriving, built a three-masted schooner, dubbed the Octavia, to carry lumber from Singapore to Chicago over Lake Michigan. [5] The city thrived and boasted a population of several hundred people by 1871.
[edit] Singapore's demise
After the fires which swept through Chicago, Holland, and Peshtigo in late 1871; Singapore was almost completely deforested in order to supply the three towns with lumber in order to rebuild. Without the protective tree cover, the winds and sands coming off Lake Michigan quickly eroded the city into ruins and within four years had completely covered it over. The town was vacated by 1875.
Today, Singapore lives on only in the name of the Singapore Yacht Club, which is located at one end of town. Just as the "cow kicking over the lantern" story was borne out of the Great Chicago Fire tragedy, this event also gave birth to a legend. The story persists that one resident of Singapore refused to move, even as the sand enveloped his home. Eventually he had to enter and leave the dwelling by a second floor window, and he stayed until the sand reached the roof.
[edit] References
- Charles R. Starring, Singapore: Michigan's Imaginary Pompeii (1953).
