Michigan Central depot, Lewiston
The village of Lewiston was first settled in the late 1870s and named Louie’s Town after a supervisor for a Hanson owned lumber mill in Gaylord. The name was shortened to Lewiston in 1892 when it was formally established by David Kneeland, the manager of the Michelson & Hanson Lumber Company. The company built a substantial mill on East Twin Lake which operated until 1910. The population peaked at 1000 and was reported in 1897 to be 750. By the 1920s, Lewiston was a ghost town and all but disappeared. After World War II, Lewiston made a comeback and developed into a resort area around Twin Lakes. It thrives as such today. It is Michigan’s only former ghost town.
The rail line into Lewiston was originally built as the Grayling, Twin Lakes & Northeastern Railroad in 1892, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad. Both railroads were operated by the Michigan Central. In 1901, the GTL&N became part of the JL&S and in 1905 the JL&S became part of the MC. In 1910, Lewiston was served by two passanger trains daily each way to Grayling. In 1930, the New York Central took over operations of the MC and abandoned the Twin Lakes branch by 1933.
Sources:
Wikipedia: Lewiston
Michigan Ghost Towns Volume II, R.L. Dodge, ©1971.
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