The Michigan-thumbtown of Palms is located in Minden Township, Sanilac County, about 62 miles east of Bay City.

Even though it became known as an Irish community, the village was settled in 1850 by Canadians John Smith & Michael Dyer. In 1881, land & lumber owner Francis Palm was beneficial in bringing the railroad through town.....and giving the town its name.  The town's purpose was to be a postal service, lumber exporter, and railway stopover. The post office was established in 1882, called 'Palm State' and shortened to just plain 'Palms' in 1896.

Get our free mobile app

During Palms' heyday, the community had a bank, blacksmith, candy store, cemetery, church, elevator, farm implement shop, the Flint & Pere Marquette Hotel, the Forestview Hotel, a third hotel, general store, hardware store, livery stables, post office, schoolhouse, train depot, and warehouse. Today, only a few of those structures exist, including the historic St. Patrick Catholic Church which was built in the 1850's.

The town's downslide came in 1916 when sparks from a train engine started fires along Railroad Street, destroying many establishments. They were never rebuilt and many townspeople sought work and life elsewhere.

This is a very cool little semi-ghost town to visit and get great photos while these buildings are still around.

GALLERY OF PALMS

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Ten Forgotten Clinton County Towns That Practically Vanished

Vintage Photos of Napoleon, Mi

More From Mix 95.7