For the little people
By enealio on Apr 24, 2009 in Weird Stuff
One of my favorite places.
I used to always hear stories about a mysterious fairy village out on Madeline Island. Supposedly someone built an entire little village out in the woods somewhere. Every time I’m on the island, I bike down a firelane or back road I’ve never been on before hoping to take a peek but I’ve never found it.
Has anyone actually seen it and can attest to its existence?
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I’ve never been there, but my parents were a looooong time ago. I don’t know if my dad knows where it is anymore, but he used to read electric meters on the island and knew his way around pretty well…they refer to it as the “Smurf village,” but I don’t know if that’s what it actually looks like (or if that’s just a nickname they used to give us kids a mental picture).
Also: it’s most likely they were there in the early 1970s, before they’d had me or my brothers, and that was a fairly long time ago. So I’m not sure if the village still exists–it might’ve fallen into disrepair or been completely overgrown by the forest at this point. Maybe someone else with more current knowledge will pipe up?
It’s kind of sketchy, and note the source, but Google turned up this reference to it:
http://www.madelineislandnews......inston.htm
i just found this too:
http://troop510.home.att.net/n.....st2005.pdf
I say if we can’t find the little house place we build one our selves!!!!!!!!!!
Peace
PS How about a little Garden ARailroad that runs through it. It could have a special car pulled behind the engine.
It does exist and it’s on the north end of the Madeline Island on private land. I know someone whose dogs frequently run around the village. I believe it used to be open to the public, but now the owners request no visitors.
Hmmm. Don’t know about Madeline, but one DOES exist on nearby Michigan island, on Park Service Land. I’ve seen it. But that was years ago and it’s hard to find….
Definitely Madeline. My co-worker lives next door to the property (I asked her 30 minutes ago). Not to say there may not be villages on other islands. They are strange and mythically isles full of ghosts and fairies.
I have been there and sworn to secrecy.
dude that’s tom’s burned down cafe. it’s a bar.
saw something like this a few decades on the island back when I lived in Ashland and worked in the Bayfield area, but for the life of me I couldn’t give directions on how to get there now.
@starfire
i don’t want directions, just want to know that it actually exists. it’s fun to hunt for it.
@tommy2tone
yes, i know.
Yeah, I’ve seen it. I know you want to hunt for it but, if you are unable to find it feel free to send me an email. I know I would not have found it without someone showing me where it is.
paperlettuce@yahoo.com
Pete
Here are four pictures of the village taken in the early 70’s.
http://s658.photobucket.com/al.....=slideshow
The “village” you refer to was the real-life Lillyput on which Jonathan Swift based his novel, “Gulliver’s Travels”. The other village, Blefusco, was actually on Michigan Island. I should know, I brought Jonathan Swift there (by accident) and thru a series of unfortunate events, he was tied to the beach by the Lilliputians, hence giving him the idea for his famous novel.
It was on Madeline where he met the talking horses in the stables of a certain Dr. Moreau, but I digress.
Both tiny villages were wiped out by disease and plague soon after white settlers arrived in the region sometime afterwards.
Located on Grant’s Pointe, the village was eventually buried by the waves and sand. The village on Michigan Island still stands.
To learn more,visit Tom’s Burned Down Cafe and http://www.madelineisland.org
Cheers!
The Doctor
Ratin (107,107,41)
2nd Life
there is a small village on madeline island tucked back in the woods. a friend who lives on the island showed us where it was just last weekend… it is on private land… there are signs all over before u actually reach it that say not for tourist and such like that… my camera was dead so i didnt get any pictures but on my cell phone which are a little blurry and hard to make out but the main sign when u get there says
we need your help our little village is being work out by too many visitors we ask please dont tell your friends or bring your guest or come yourself. do not touch my houses. do not walk my streets.
the rest was too blurry to figure out…
then there was one big main village. the church was dated 1956. there was also more little villages all over the forest… I am very curios as to why they are there and what they mean… there are pennies in the windows… also something that made me ponder… does anyone have any information about this?? it does exist i saw it with my own eyes… but why and when was it built???? these are the only pics i can find of them online
http://s658.photobucket.com/al.....=slideshow
My family has pictures of the village but unfortunately the disc containing the photos is missing. If ever founf I will post some of the pics.
These posts, the mystery, the hint of disillusionment, the mythology … all makes me think of This American Life.
I was on Madeleine Island only once as a kid that I can scarcely remember and then again in fall of ‘98 or ‘99 working on a documentary. I picked up a local paper while there and it was one of the greatest things that I ever read. All kinds of local personalities, details of island life, and even a few snarky letters to the editor. I can’t remember what it is called, but I highly recommend anyone visiting the island find a copy of the local paper.
I have been to the Village of the People many times. As a child we had a cabin on Madeline Island. I loved to go there. You could tell the love that was put into each and every building. I have not ben there for many years but would like to go again.
I just visited the little people village last weekend! The locals are sworn to secrecy, but through a friend who has a house in bayfield I was given clues on where to find it. My girlfriends and I had a blast on our “treasure hunt”! As we carefully wound our way through the villages and its outlying hamlets, I thought I had never seen something so unique or amazing. The woods are beautiful and the house look so organic; like they grew up out of the ground and belong right where they are. I know you want find it. . .but it’s a my own secret now.
It does in fact exsist, However, like those before me ..sworn to secret it’s location. It used to have carved lil figures, but visitors thought they were keepsakes, thus ended the whereabouts of the village..as my father who took me there as a child, then as an adult said,” This secret is ment for the kids of the Island…” can’t wait to teach my own son it’s location and watch his face beam with excitement as he learns the secret of the tiny village as well…
A college friend of mine from the twin cities and his then-girlfriend made a great post on the Something Awful forums a few years ago featuring a photographic journey through this tiny town. It was the first I’d heard of it, and to this day I still do not know its exact location. But to see all the photos of their adventure and to read all the mystified posts from jealous others around the world was a treat.