Banat.

About Banat

Banat is an unincorporated community in Menominee County, Michigan, and home to Holmes Township's Township Hall. Banat was named after Banat, in Romania by Romanian immigrants who came to the area in the mid 19th century. At Banat's peak, it had a two-room schoolhouse, church, cemetery, bus garage, township hall, tavern, inn, two general stores, gas station and a railroad station. The original industry was farming, though this was largely abandoned by the mid-twentieth century due to poor soil and climate conditions. The permanent population dwindled during the latter half of the twentieth century. The school house was closed and sold in the 1960s and is now a private cottage. The church was closed and demolished in the mid-1980s. The bus garage was sold off along with the school house and was eventually demolished sometime around 2000 to make way for a mini-storage facility. The tavern, general store and gas station were closed and demolished following the death of the last owner, Mr. Hirsch.