Americas Company Towns Then And Now

A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets, and recreation facilities. In the company towns of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a worker's boss did extra duty as a landlord, store owner, and constable. The on-site mill manager in Simmons, a town named after the furniture maker, even ran a successful baseball team. Built around iron mines and lumber concerns and directed by prominent entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, these industrial hamlets once lined the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior.