Return to the Ghost Town of Donken, Michigan

Smack in the midst of copper and timber country lies the mostly ghost town of Donken in the UP’s Houghton County. Donken is located just off M-26 in Elm River Township at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Donken was originally called 'Beaver' as a station on the Copper Range Railroad. The ‘Beaver’ moniker came from the Beaver Area Case Lumber Company which the town was built around. Earl Case was also the owner of the local general store and became the town’s first postmaster when the post office opened in 1919.

Not long afterward, it was decided to axe the ‘Beaver’ and give the town a different name.....but what? As owner of the lumber company and the store, Earl pulled enough influence that he could determine what to name the town. He had two sons, Don and Ken, and so it was. The town was to be forever known as Donken.

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In 1917, the company cut between 20,000-25,000 feet of lumber per day. Along with the lumber mill, post office and store, Donken had a barber shop, boarding house, church, hotel, school, and a few establishments where the lumbermen could “relax, unwind, and get wild" (a/k/a saloons and brothels).

Driving thru Donken in the 2020s, you’ll look around and wonder where they had all these establishments. Basically, they’re all gone with a few homes and a good handful of abandoned, decaying buildings in the weeds visible from the dirt roads.

In the 1920s, it was one of the fastest growing towns at the base of the Keweenaw. In 1944, the Case Lumber Company was purchased by the Vulcan Company which continued until 1966 when it was called quits.

Once upon a time, Donken had 600 residents.
Not anymore.
Just a very few homes back off the main road, empty structures, a dirt trail where the railroad used to be, and the ghosts of the deceased lumbermen who resisted leaving.