The village of Wetzell was platted by the Wetzell brothers in 1881, when they also opened a sawmill, and that November an advertisement in the Antrim County Herald proclaimed, "New Town, New Store; Everything New!" As pine forests were depleted, Frank Harding transformed Wetzell into a company town in 1886 by converting the sawmill into a wood turning factory that used the area's abundant hardwood forests. He drew millhands by guaranteeing "steady work, good wages, free stove wood, free rent and water." Wetzell boomed, but its prosperity was short-lived. By 1909 timber supplies were low, the factory operated only sporadically, and Harding ceased operations. Without a new industry to sustain it, Wetzell became a ghost town.