Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: ruins

Fayette State Park again. The Superintendent's House ("The White House") is on the hill to the left, where the boss can oversee the blast furnaces, which are just to my right. Snail Shell had everything Jackson Mining was looking for: A deep water harbor, large nearby woods for fueling the blast furnace, and (very) nearby limestone to use for flux in the blast operation. Not to mention, of course, a convenient rail connection to bring Jackson Mine's ore to the furnace. Fayette lives on, well over a century after the last blast, partly because of the ruined buildings, and partly because the location's just beautiful.

A charcoal iron furnace consumes three main ingredients: Iron ore (of course), limestone, and a forest (to be reduced to charcoal). For Jackson Iron's purposes, Snail Shell Harbor was nearly perfect. There's a limestone cliff within sight of the furnace, forests surrounded the townsite, and Samuel Tilden's new-built Peninsula Railroad was delighted to connect the furnace with the company's mine. And the waterfront, as you see, was mere feet from the furnace. That, too, was a consideration. =============== Fayette State Park in 1981.

Fayette State Park , Garden Peninsula, Michigan. Fayette's at the north end of Lake Michigan, across Big Bay de Noc from Escanaba and really not far from Green Bay. That's Snail Shell Harbor in the foreground. I've labelled some of the buildings with notes. Taken from the trail atop the limestone cliffs . Camera: Nikon N90s. June, 1998.

This is the photograph I was setting up when I noticed the signs on the trees . While this pic works in monochrome, it's better in color. You may notice that there's another home--a double-wide modular, actually--in the neighboring lot. It, too, is abandoned, and appears unlikely to survive for long. But it's not especially photogenic. We'll be seeing that barn again .... ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . 366/2012 project discussion here .