Michigan’s landscape has undergone significant alterations due to human activities during the nineteenth century. By the mid-nineteenth century, Michigan had become a leading lumber producer in the United States. However, by the turn of the twentieth century, the logging industry shifted from the East Coast westward. This led to fragmented landscapes, the result of interactions between the logging industry decision-makers, regional policymakers, and wood product consumers. Not all Michigan communities were equally affected by the logging boom. Some landscapes, like those around Singapore, Michigan, were transformed so significantly they were no longer economically viable. Using the photographic record, this research explores the concept of settlement abandonment due to natural resource depletion. It contextualizes the images with narratives that identify the motivations and actions of key players in the logging industry around Singapore and assesses the impacts of the logging industry on the environment and community. These materials suggest that a combination of rampant demand for lumber, a lack of government regulation, and an indifferent local population led to the decimation of the forests surrounding Singapore. Due to the pressures put on the landscape as a means of profit, this area has been forever altered.
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