Pere Cheney

Pere Cheney, also called Cheney and Center Plains, was a village located in Crawford County, Michigan in the late 19th century. It is located in Beaver Creek Township and was once a small lumbering town. Pere Cheney was the first community in Crawford County, Michigan and was established by lumberjacks who trailed the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad north headed for Mackinaw City. Established in 1874 around the sawmill of George M. Cheney, it served as the temporary county seat when Crawford County was officially organized in 1879, though it soon lost this distinction to the more heavily populated town of Grayling. In 1893, diphtheria spread through the town, wiping out a great deal of the town’s population. Diphtheria recurred in 1897, by 1901 the town’s population fell to only 25 people and in 1917 there were only 18 people left in this once booming town. At that time, the land was sold off in a public auction and the town was declared a ghost town. There are many stories surrounding the ghost town of Pere Cheney as well as the cemetery itself. Ghosts, witches, strange figures, glowing orbs, and mysterious lights in the trees all feature. People have said to have heard children laughing while there and returning to their cars having handprints on them. Some say that Pere Cheney was a cursed town from the start, as it was built on Native American land. According to local legends, a witch cursed the village of Pere Cheney after being banished to the woods, hence the reasoning behind the mass outbreaks of disease in the area.