Have you ever heard of the lost town of Singapore, Michigan? This Lake Michigan ghost town was first founded in 1836. It thrived for a short time, but after the woods surrounding the town were chopped down, it fell victim to erosion.
The remains of the town are currently buried beneath sand dunes at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas.
In 1836, Singapore was founded by a New York land speculator named Oshea Wilder. He hoped to build a major town that could compete with Chicago and Milwaukee.
At its peak, Singapore had a few hundred residents, several general stores, three mills, two hotels, and a bank. It was also home to the first schoolhouse in Michigan.
The town was surrounded by vast forests of white pine, so the docks were busy with lumber being shipped out across Lake Michigan.
In 1838, the Bank of Singapore was established and printed its own currency. More than $50,000 in Singapore notes had circulated by that same year.
Then, shortly after the Civil War, the Bank of Singapore, along with other banks in Michigan, was involved in a bank scandal. When the banks couldn’t prove where their notes went, they were dissolved.
In 1842, Singapore was struck by a 40-day blizzard. The townspeople might not have made it through the winter if it weren’t for the shipwreck of the Milwaukie.
The schooner washed up near Singapore and was loaded with barrels of flour, which the people of Singapore used to feed themselves until the storm was over.
Oshea Wilder, the founder of the town, left in 1846. James Carter from New York bought the town from him and moved there. A couple of years later, Carter sold the town to his brother, Artemas, and his investment partner, Francis B. Stockbridge.
Artemas and Stockbridge built Lake Michigan’s first three-masted schooner, Octavia. The vessel was meant to carry lumber from Singapore to Chicago.
Stockbridge bought Aretmas out in 1850. For the next decade, Singapore prospered as the demand for lumber increased. By 1871, several hundred people were living in the town.
But then, in late 1871, fires swept through Chicago and other cities like Holland and Milwaukee. Singapore supplied a large amount of wood to help rebuild Chicago after the catastrophe known as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The area around Singapore was almost completely deforested to support the town’s lumber industry. By 1875, there were no trees left to cut down.
Without any trees, the town’s booming business came to an abrupt halt. The lack of tree cover wasn’t just bad from an economic standpoint; it made the land impossible to live on as nature’s forces crept in.
The coastal winds blowing off Lake Michigan swept sand from the dunes along the shoreline into the town. Within four years, Singapore was completely covered in sand.
By 1875, the town was vacant, as many people had relocated to nearby Saugatuck. Gradually, the sand dunes buried the buildings until no trace of them was visible.
Today, Singapore’s legacy lives on in Saugatuck through the Singapore Yacht Club; its name a tribute to the lost town.
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By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
