UPDATE: 3/1/2024:
2019 was the 100th Anniversary of Michigan State Parks and we're still celebrating!. Join the Michigan Geocaching Organization (MiGO), the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Geocaching.com for the first official GeoTour in Michigan.
This tour was originally scheduled to run for three years, kicking off on Friday of Memorial Weekend in 2019 and continue through May 31, 2022. The success of this awesome tour has not gone unnoticed. On February 2, 2022, The DNR announced the extension of the GeoTour through September 24, 2024! Join us in making a final push to complete this very popular and very successful GeoTour before the sun sets on it.
Each geocache is in one of Michigan's state parks. The geocaches are arranged by MiGO Region, with twenty-five geocaches per region. The Ticket to Celebrate 100 is available for download from the DNR's Geocaching page. It explains how to qualify for prizes in each of the four regions and for the GeoTour as a whole.
Day use areas of state parks are open from 8AM to 10PM. Geocaching is limited to those hours. Entry into Michigan's State Parks requires a Michigan Recreation Passport. See the Resources section below for more information.
The sun will set on the MSPCGT at midnight Tuesday, September 24, 2024. The MSPCGT will go off the air as a GeoTour and the caches will disappear from the map. There is a lot of construction going on in our State Parks in 2024. Some of the GeoTour caches will have to be pulled earlier. The remaining geocaches in the tour will be archived October 1, 2024. Players will have until December 31, 2024 to claim any prize they have earned. Hiders will be contacted to request removal of the geocaches they hid unless they have made arrangements with park managers and have their own permit in place to keep the geocache in play, with a new GC Code.
Now for some good news: MiGO and the DNR are busy working on a new project that will kick off in the Spring of 2025, code named MSPGT 2.0. Are you interested in helping? Keep your MiGO Membership up to date and stay tuned to the website.
Cache:
This cache was hidden as part of the Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour, presented by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Geocaching Organization. Record the codeword printed on the log book and on a label inside the cache container to the appropriate box on the Ticket to Celebrate 100 form. See the instructions on the form to claim prizes.
This is a traditional cache hidden at the posted coordinates. You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.
Visit the historic village and visitor center while you are here.
Thank you
AndyOdie
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Charcoal Kiln, the first part of the process of smelting Iron
Fayette Historical State Park:
The 711-acre Fayette Historic State Park blends both nature and history. The park features a historic townsite, a modern campground, harbor slips, a boat launch, a beach and five miles of hiking and cross-country skiing trails with impressive views from the limestone cliffs that surround the harbor.
The historic townsite, a once bustling iron smelting industrial community surrounding Snail Shell Harbor, features more than 20 historic buildings. A visitor center provides ample opportunities to learn about life in a 19th century industrial town through interpretation provided by the Michigan Historical Center. Visitors can take guided tours or self-guided walks.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
The passage of time, remains of the Company Store
History:
In 1867 Jackson Iron Company established a pig iron smelting operation on this site and the town of Fayette grew around it. In its heyday, as many as 500 residents called Fayette home. The operation was constructed on this site for multiple reasons. There was an abundant supply of hardwood from which charcoal was made and used to fire the blast furnaces. There was also a supply of limestone, used to purify the iron. Finally, the sheltered Snail Shell Harbor afforded safe and deep harbor for ships to dock. In its years of operation nearly a quarter million tons of pig iron were produced here.
Two events led to the closure of the smelters in 1891. Depletion of the area hardwood made this operation far less convenient. Also, innovations in the production of iron and steel made charcoal smelting less economical. When the smelters shut down, most residents went elsewhere for employment, but a few hearty soles established farms on the peninsula.
The town, itself, became a fishing resort in 1916 and lasted nearly four decades with two different owners. The second owner fell behind in taxes. The Escanaba Paper Company acquired the land and traded it to the State of Michigan for timber lands. The former town site became a State Park in 1959. Many of the buildings have been restored and the town is a living museum.
Fayette is considered the most intact post-Civil War-era charcoal iron-smelting company town in the United States. Sixteen of the original buildings still survive from that era.
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
The historic townsite features more than 20 historic buildings. A visitor center provides ample opportunities to learn about life in a 19th century industrial town through interpretation provided by the Michigan Historical Center. Visitors can take guided tours or self-guided walks.
On the second Saturday of August, the park is transformed back to its glory days with period displays, food and music during the annual Heritage Day event. The event celebrates the "hey-day" of Fayette as a bustling iron smelting company town.
There are five miles of hiking trails. 400 acres of the park are open to hunting. The park facilities are modern, as are the boat slips, capable of handling boats up to 60 feet. Scuba diving is permitted in the harbor during certain times of the day. A fee and use permit is required. All submerged artifacts are to remain in place, and nothing is to be removed from the harbor bottom.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Fayette State Park.
Special thanks to
IFollowRoads
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cherry Capital Cachers for the Upper Peninsula regional prize.
Resources: