Industry: Marlborough, MI - Great Northern Portland Cement Company

The Great Northern Portland Cement Company built a cement plant on the west side of North Lake in the 1890's, about 2 miles southeast of Baldwin. The small town of Marlborough was built for about 400 employees near the plant.

Photo Info: A "birdseye" view of the Marlborough cement plant in the early 1900's. [Wiki]

Notes

The plant used marl which was mined from North Lake. By around 1905, the plant became challenged by its process including the need for electricity which was supplied on-site. The company built a power plant which at the time was the largest in the Lower Peninsula. The company went into receivership in 1906. By 1910, the plant was in ruins. The plant was dyinamited for scrap iron. [Lost in Michigan web site]

The plant was served by the Pere Marquette railroad via a siding off their north-south main line, about two miles south of Baldwin.

The ruins site is designated as a Historic Site by the State of Michigan (in 1971). [Wiki]

Time Line