This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. The ancient philosopher Plato wrote of the mythical island of Atlantis that disappeared beneath the ocean. Michigan, too, had its own Atlantis. But the village of Belvidere was no myth. Belvidere rose in Macomb county in the 1830s, only to be flooded by the Clinton river and Lake St. Clair. The site for Belvidere seemed promising. The land lay along Lake St. Clair, and the Clinton river boasted rich farmland and fine stands of hardwood trees. Moreover, the Clinton river was considered navigable for commercial vessels, and its mouth seemed a perfect location for a town and shipping port. Congress spent $5,000 to remove a sandbar and improve the harbor. In 1835, brothers James and David Conger bought the land. They brought in several investors to help finance the town's development. David sold his share of the land to James, who then hired surveyor Abel Dickerson to plat the town. In 1836, a second survey by Edward Blackwell laid out the lots, roads and parks. They named the town Belvidere, probably in honor of James Conger's wife, Paula Belvidere Clark Conger. Belvidere grew rapidly. It soon had a hotel, steamboat landing, cider mill, sawmill, grist mill, general store, post office, tavern and machine shop, along with a dozen or so houses and carp fisheries. In 1838, James Conger opened the bank of Lake St. Clair. It was one of many wildcat banks of the era, so called because they were free of federal regulation and printed their own paper money without any backing of gold or silver. The bank of Lake St. Clair failed the same year it opened, increasing the troubles that had already started to plague Belvidere a year earlier. In 1837, the waters of Lake St. Clair began to rise. The lake flooded farms, houses, and businesses. Many people moved to the nearby Mount Clemens. James Conger himself stayed in town and moved into his hotel's second floor. Some residents and farmers later returned, but Belvidere never fully recovered. In 1882, the steamboat Ida caught fire on the Clinton river, and the flames spread into Belvidere. What remained of the town went up in smoke. Today, Belvidere is remembered by Belvidere bay on Lake St. Clair and Belvidere street in the old site of the town. A marina is there, too, with a street alongside it that bears the apt name Atlantis Drive. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.