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| Fayette Historic Townsite |
“With educational school group tours, new interpretive panels, special events, historic townsite tours and reopening Fayette’s historic Shelton House, Fayette has a lot to offer the public,” said site historian Troy Henderson.
Restoration work has been completed on the lower level of the historic “Shelton House,” which was lavishly furnished in the late 19th century for Fayette guests and residents. The roof of the hotel was reshingled in fall 2013. Museum exhibits are being reinstalled and the building reopened to visitors this season.
Five new interpretive panels at the site of Fayette’s historic race track and baseball field will enlarge the interpretive boundaries of the townsite. The panels highlight what Fayette residents did for fun when the iron-making town bustled with energy.
Outdoor historic walking tours, offered mid-June through mid-August, give visitors an orientation to the historic townsite, furnace complex and what life was like for 19th-century Fayette residents. Fayette Heritage Day, Aug. 8, will offer special entertainment and activities for both campers and day users.
Fayette Historic State Park is one of the nation's premier examples of a 19th-century industrial community and company town. In operation from 1867 to 1891, its furnaces produced more than 229,000 tons of pig iron, making Fayette the second largest producer of charcoal iron in Michigan. Today, 20 buildings are preserved, including the furnace complex, hotel, town hall, company office and several residences. The 11 buildings that contain exhibits and are open to the public include a modern visitor center with a scale model of the town site as it looked in the 1880s.
Fayette Historic Townsite is one of 11 nationally accredited museums administered by the Michigan Historical Center, an agency within the Department of Natural Resources. Located 17 miles south of U.S. Hwy. 2 on Hwy. 183 at Fayette Historic State Park, the museum village is open daily, 9 a.m. to dusk through Labor Day, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Labor Day through Oct. 18. For more information call 906-644-2603 or go online to www.michigan.gov/fayettetownsite.
A Recreation Passport grants vehicle access to any Michigan state park, boat launch, state forest campground or nonmotorized state trailhead parking. Residents can purchase the Passport for just $11 ($5 for motorcycles) at the time of Michigan license plate renewal through Secretary of State. Forgot to check "YES" during renewal? Residents and nonresidents can purchase a Recreation Passport window sticker during regular business hours at state parks. Learn more about how the Recreation Passport supports state parks, local outdoor recreation opportunities and historic and cultural sites at www.michigan.gov/recreationpassport.
