The unincorporated village of Deerton, Michigan is in the upper central portion of Onota Township, in Alger County, in the Upper Peninsula.
The Laughing Whitefish River flows north through the community, intersecting the North Country National Scenic Trail, which follows an abandoned roadbed that crosses the center of the village. Administered by the National Park Service, the North Country Trail (NCT) is a 4,600-mile hiking trail from Middlebury, Vermont to Lake Sakakawea State Park in central North Dakota, connecting the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail with the Lewis and Clark Trail.
The main driving routes to, from, and through the village include the Deerton Road, the Deerton Onota Road, the Deerton Sand Lake Road, the Karvonen Road, and the Peter White Road. State Highway M-28 is just north of the community, connected to it by Deerton Road.
The nearest incorporated municipalities are the village of Chatham, 18.1 miles south-southeast, the city of Marquette, 21.1 miles west, and Munising, 24.4 miles to the east. Unincorporated communities within twenty miles of Deerton include Sand River (5.9 miles), Rock River (9.7 miles), Gordon (10.5 miles), Sundell (10.5 miles), Rumely (12.3 miles), Au Train (13.5 miles), Dukes (13.8 miles), Lawson (14.0 miles), Vick (14.3 miles), Eben Junction (15.7 miles), Harvey (16.7 miles), Beaver Grove (18.8 miles), and Christmas (20.0 miles).
Deerton got its start as a station on the Detroit, Mackinaw & Marquette Railroad in 1882, established to support area lumbering operations. The community was in Schoolcraft County until Alger County was organized in 1885, and was originally known as Deerton Station. Located on the west side of Deerton Road, the Deerton Cemetery was created on land donated by Victor Hongisto and Elias Johnson in 1903. A post office was established there on July 11, 1922, with Dora H. Gogain as the first postmaster. The community was probably named for the prevalence of deer in the area at the time.
Today, the community is very small and has never been large. The entire township has a population under four hundred. Mostly wooded, the village consists of a post office, the township hall, a few scattered residences, many of which are abandoned, and a PK-8th-grade school, part of AuTrain-Onota Public Schools.
As Deerton is an unincorporated community, it has no defined borders, so online resources bearing a Deerton postal address would be appropriate for this guide.
Recommended Resources
Located on Deerton Road in Deerton, Michigan, the school offers a preschool program for three and four-year-old children, as well as a public school curriculum for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. School calendars, district reports, a library catalog, lunch menu, and information about school nutrition programs are featured, along with access to various student documents, surplus property for sale, and employment opportunities.
http://www.autrainonota.com/
Laughing Whitefish Lake Preserve
Included as one of the places that The Nature Conservancy protects, the organization includes a profile of the 1,728-acre Preserve, as well as directions and a map showing its location in Deerton, Michigan, a statement as to what makes it significant, and an overview of what visitors to the Preserve are likely to see, which includes a self-guided George Shiras III Discovery Trail, a one-mile loop with an accompanying interpretive brochure describing native fauna and flora.
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/laughing-whitefish-lake-preserve/
Headquartered in the Alger County community of Deerton, Michigan, the property management company offers long-term and short-term rentals, as well as properties for sale, in Alger County and the surrounding area, including a guest house in Deerton, and several homes available for long-term rental in Munising or elsewhere within the Upper Peninsula of Michigan region. Photographs, floor plans, a list of features, and pricing are listed for available properties.
http://laughingwhitefishproperties.com/
Michigan Ghost Town: Deerton, in Alger County
Written by John Robinson and published by 99.1 WFMK on November 23, 2018, the article describes the community of Deerton, Michigan as a ghost town, offering tidbits of the history of the town, and including several photos, mostly taken from Google Maps, showing various local buildings, such as the Onota Township Hall building, the AuTrain-Onota School building, and several residences, most of which appear to have been abandoned or uninhabited.
https://99wfmk.com/deerton-michigan/
The civil township is in west Alger County, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is headquartered in Deerton, one of three unincorporated communities within the township, which has no incorporated municipalities. Area information, public notices, meeting schedules, minutes, zoning ordinances, and property tax files are available on the official township website, along with a list of township officials, township services, maps, and a history of the township.
http://www.onotatownship.org/
