There's a settlement called Singapore in Limpopo, South Africa
There is a Singapore in South Africa. While we've heard about the ghost town in the US, our South African counterpart is documented much less frequently. Could it possibly be that Instagrammers had found our new twin in South Africa?
A quick search, however, reveals very little to be excited about. The Singapore settlement in Limpopo, South Africa - Though Wikipedia talks about it as a settlement, Google Maps show an expense of shrubs and grasses, without a trace of housing or living quarters. To Google Maps' defence, the nearest we can get to Limpopo's Singapore is from a distance away.
Tourism sites have little to zero information about the settlement. One of them does mention about how Limpopo is a "region of infinite scenic beauty with a great diversity of both natural and man-made attractions, rich cultural heritage and an abundance of wildlife and nature-based tourism opportunities" One thing is for sure, though -- wherever that Bilzerian had been to, it's not Singapore, Singapore.
related: Why is there a place in South Africa also called S'pore? And why is there no info on it anywhere?
Singapore, Michigan Historical Marker
Singapore, Michigan Historical Marker is a park in Michigan. Singapore, Michigan Historical Marker is situated nearby to the hamlets Oxbow and Old Saugatuck.
Singapore Michigan, United States
Singapore is a ghost town in Michigan, United States. It was a casualty of erosion after the surrounding woods were deforested—exacerbated by the need for lumber to rebuild several Midwestern cities and towns ravaged by fires in 1871. Its ruins now lie buried beneath the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck Township, near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas in Allegan County.
Singapore Michigan
Singapore is a ghost town in Michigan, United States. It was a casualty of erosion after the surrounding woods were deforested—exacerbated by the need for lumber to rebuild several Midwestern cities and towns ravaged by fires in 1871. Its ruins now lie buried beneath the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck Township, near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas in Allegan County.
It was founded in 1836 by New York land speculator Oshea Wilder, who was hoping to build a port town to rival Chicago and Milwaukee. At its height, the town boasted of three mills, two hotels, several general stores, and a bank, and was home to Michigan's first schoolhouse. In total, the town consisted of 23 buildings and two sawmills. In 1838, two short-lived "wildcat" banks were established in Allegan County: the Bank of Allegan and the Bank of Singapore. They both issued their own banknotes and were required to hold enough hard currency (specie) to cover at least 1/3 of the circulating banknotes. However, neither Singapore nor Allegan was at that level.
By 1838, over $50,000 in Singapore notes had been placed in circulation. Shortly after the Civil War, Singapore and many other Michigan banks were involved in a bank scandal. Inspectors required them to produce the specie to support their notes and when they were unable to do so they were dissolved. From time to time collectors come across notes issued by the Singapore Bank. There are a few known full sheets of the notes before they were cut into individual notes, sometimes signed and sometimes unsigned by the bank president or authorized personnel at the time.
SINGAPORE, MICHIGAN OBSOLETE BANK NOTES
Around 175 years ago, there was a town on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan near what is now Saugatuck, Michigan called Singapore. The city was located in the southwestern part of the State of Michigan. This section of the state turned out to be one of the first areas settled. The area had promise for exploitation of the lumber located in the area and later for shipbuilding and trading with other cities located on the Great Lakes.
- In 1820, Lewis Cass is believed to have traveled near there while he was exploring the Great Lakes and possibly the Mississippi River area. Also doing business was Gordon Hubbard, an employee of fur trader John Jacob Astor fame. Up to that time, it seems only fur traders were visiting the area which was inhabited by Ottawa Indians.
- Around 1830, the first settling family of William Butler arrived.
- The area was surveyed in 1831, noting numerous Sand Banks and a number of various trees. A large part of the property was purchased by Horace Comstock. Mr. Comstock and another early settler by the name of Stephen Nichols felt a warehouse and pier were needed to support the arrival of goods and household effects of new arrivals.
- In 1836, Oshea Wilder, who had previously visited the area, and four other men agreed to invest in the states of Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin Territory and in Indiana. It was agreed that Mr. Wilder would be allowed to purchase land as appropriate for investment purposes. Mr. Wilder noted the Singapore site would be well suited for the building of a saw mill. By December of 1836, Mr. Wilder had purchased the necessary land which included the Village of Singapore and in the beginning of 1837 had contracts let to build a scow and boats, along with contracts for a saw mill and housing for the workmen.
- Mr. Wilder noted that money was rather scarce, but real estate continued to advance and the general prosperity continued. During 1837, development within Singapore continued.
- In 1837, the State of Michigan passed a general banking law that permitted any ten or more freeholders of any county to organize themselves into a corporation for the transaction of banking business, with a capital of not less than $50,000, nor more than $300,000. These banks were empowered to print an issue their own paper money. The act further provided that no bank should commence operation until 30% of the stock should be actually paid in, in specie or hard money, (defined in the act as gold coins, but usually gold in any form and many silver coins were considered acceptable). In the original act, the issuing Bank was required to redeem its banknotes and hard money on demand, or within 30 days thereafter. Failure to do so would result in dissolution of the bank.
- As luck would have it, and before any new banks had completed the chartering process, the Financial Panic of 1837 started, and the subsequent run on banks, caused banks in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore to suspend specie payment and redemption of banknotes. Fearing that depositors, thwarted in other states, might flood the banks of Michigan with otherwise worthless paper money, the Michigan Legislature, in a special session in June of 1837 also suspended the specie redemption requirement. Surprisingly, the lawmakers left the general banking laws in force. New banks could continue to be organized and allowed to start the business of issuing bills while the requirements to redeem them were still in a state of suspension. AMAZING!!
- These new banking institutions would later be called “WILDCAT” banks because these banks were as hard to find in the woods of Michigan as the alleged elusive wildcat! Thus, if the main office for the bank that was required to redeem its money was located in some far off and/or inaccessible place, the paper money that was issued by the bank could then be circulated in the far reaches of the state, and the East coast and as a result the money would be less likely to be presented to the issuing bank for redemption. One story that was passed down alleged that there was one bank found located in a saw mill, and another located in a hollowed out tree stump!
- When the banking law was passed, Oshea Wilder was quick to act on behalf of the city of Singapore. First he tried to get his investors from the East involved, but they were not very keen on the idea. As a result, Mr. Wilder, turned to James Carter, a distant relative of his who lived in Leominster, Mass. The official organizers of the Singapore bank were all residents, as the new law required, and application was dated October 5, 1837. Mr. Wilder made application to the county clerk of Allegan to have the books open for the subscription of the capital stock of an institution to be located in the village of Singapore, County of Allegan, with a capital stock of $50,000.
- Daniel S. Wilder, the son of Oshea, was named president of the bank, and Rob Hill, was to serve as cashier. The bank was located first in a boarding house, and then moved to a separate building. Records around that time show pressed brick was ordered and shipped from Boston for the construction of a vault.
- According to Harold L. Bowen in his book of 1956 titled “State Bank Notes of Michigan”, ornate bills were printed by Rawdon, Wright and Hatch, a New York engraving firm, in one, two, three and five dollar denominations on each printed sheet for a total of $11 per sheet. There were 5,000 sheets printed for a total face value of $55,000. The bills, printed on one side only, were struck on a single sheet and then cut apart and signed by the cashier and president prior to be placed in circulation. Of the $55,000, records show that banknotes valued at only $15,952 were actually put in circulation during the bank’s short existence. (If you assume the $15,952 figure to be correct, and each sheet was worth $11, this would break down to roughly 1,450 of each note issued.).
- There should have been $15,000 of hard money or specie reserve. All reports indicate that this was not likely.
Singapore, the Town Buried in Sand, in Michigan
Singapore bank notes back in the 19th century | Image credits: Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society
Singapore is not part of China, but part of USA. No, we are not talking about Singapore, the Little Red Dot but Singapore, the famous ghost town in Michigan, USA. The land in Singapore, Michigan, was acquired in 1831 by Oshea Wilder, a pioneer from Massachusetts. A town was then established and it quickly gained traction among moving settlers. It was one of Michigan’s first towns and was reportedly named after Singapore, the island nation, to attract boats along Lake Michigan.
Singapore was a thriving town, housing four lumber bills, a bank and some 40 houses. The bank even printed its own “Singapore” dollar. However, heavy logging activities have decimated the environment, exposing the town to the elements. Sands moved into the town unfettered and had severely affected the daily lives of its residents. The town was eventually abandoned, 35 years after it was first established. Fortunately, three houses including the “Singapore Bank” were preserved and moved to the neighbouring town of Saugatuck; the “bank” is now a bookstore and art gallery.
Today, the town of Singapore is completely buried by sand and is one of Michigan’s most famous ghost towns, a sharp contrast to the thriving city state of Singapore. In 2017, commercial developers proposed a housing development on the land where Singapore once stood.The proposal was met with outcry by environmental activities who wanted to protect the historical site that had played an important role in the early development of Michigan.
Buried Ghost Town, Singapore Michigan
Michigan has dozens of ghost towns dating back to pre-statehood, post-statehood and Civil War eras. Many of which you'll find in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan -- mining towns of yester-year.
There's one ghost town you can't see anymore, but still exists on the Westside of the state near Saugatuck: Singapore, Michigan. This former lumbering & shipbuilding town was founded in 1836 by a guy from the Northeast. His thinking was "why couldn't this be a port as large and successful as Milwaukee or Chicago?" For 30+ years, it was a success with hotels and numerous businesses.
Fast forward to several midwestern fires from Chicago, Holland, Manistee and more around 1871. The area around Singapore, Michigan was deforested because so much wood was needed to rebuild in those other communities. So, why wouldn't Singapore exist with fewer trees? Turns out, winds off Lake Michigan caused a great deal of erosion. Without trees to prevent sand from becoming a problem... Singapore, Michigan was essentially buried by a couple of sand dunes. Over time, people have found the tops of houses and various artifacts from that era including tools, building materials and everyday items you'd find in someone's house.
Ghost Town - Singapore, Michigan: Fires of 1871 and Sand Dunes
This sand buried town of Sigapore in Michigan paid a heavy price for assisting bigger cities to recover from the fires of 1871. I do not trust the official version, because supplying destroyed cities with lumber makes very little sense to me. We all know that cities destroyed in the 19th century urban fires were not made of wood. Personally, I have never heard about it, yet, in the 19th century, they had their own currency.
Singapore, Michigan, was founded in 1836 by New York land speculator Oshea Wilder, who was hoping to build a port town to rival Chicago and Milwaukee. At its height, the town had three mills, two hotels, several general stores, a renowned bank, and was home to Michigan's first schoolhouse. In total, the town consisted of 23 buildings and two sawmills. The town thrived and boasted a population of several hundred people by 1871. Singapore, perhaps Michigan's most famous ghost town, is one of the casualties of the four great fires (Chicago, Holland, Peshtigo, and Manistee) that ravaged the northern midwest on October 8, 1871. Its ruins now lie buried beneath the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck Township, near the cities of Saugatuck and Douglas in Allegan County.
After the fires which swept through Chicago, Holland, and Peshtigo in late 1871, Singapore was almost completely deforested supplying the three towns with lumber for rebuilding. Without the protective tree cover, the winds and sands coming off Lake Michigan quickly eroded the town into ruins and within four years had completely covered it over. The town was vacated by 1875. Today, Singapore lives on only in the name of the Singapore Yacht Club, which is at one end of town. Just as the "cow kicking over the lantern" story was born out of the Great Chicago Fire, this event also gave birth to a legend. The story persists that one resident of Singapore refused to move, even as the sand enveloped his home. Eventually he had to enter and leave the dwelling by a second floor window, and he stayed until the sand reached the roof.
