With the successes of George Rogers Clark in capturing British posts in the south, and American forces moving northward, the British grew anxious that Fort Michilimackinac, a wooden fort built on the beach, was vulnerable. British Commandant Patrick Sinclair chose to relocate the fort to Mackinac Island where the high limestone cliffs and good harbor provided a better defensible location. Between 1779 and 1781 many buildings were taken apart on the mainland and reassembled on the island and what was left and not moved was burned. After that was done the civilian community was built around the bay below the fort. One of the first new buildings to be built on the island was the Officers' Stone Quarters, which is the oldest building in the State of Michigan today.War broke out between the United States and Great Britain in the summer of 1812. Under the cover of darkness, a 300-man force of British soldiers and Native American allies embarked from Fort St. Joseph and landed on the north shore of Mackinac Island. They dragged their cannon to the high ground behind the fort, took positions in the woods and prepared to attack. American soldiers, about 30, were completely surprised and outnumbered by the British invasion. This was the first land engagement of the War of 1812 in the United States. British troops took the fort and built a new one, named Fort George which was later renamed Fort Holmes at the highest point on the island to act as a defense on the weak north side. Two years later American soldiers tried to recapture Fort Mackinac. Invading from the north, they were met by British soldiers at the center of the island. The Americans were badly defeated in the only battle ever fought on Mackinac Island. Following the battle, British soldiers also captured two American vessels that were blockading the harbor.

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The first fort on the Straits of Mackinac was constructed in about 1690 by the French near the St. Ignace Mission on the north side of the Straits of Mackinac. It was closed in 1697 and by the early 1700s, the French began to refortify the area. The fort became the main trade depot of the upper Great Lakes fur trade. The fort was used as both a military post and a civilian community. Michilimackinac remained a French outpost until 1761 when British soldiers took control after their victory in the French and Indian War.

Fort Mackinac

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This tour starts with the famed Grand Hotel and includes several other historic sites along the southern half of Mackinac Island.

Before a hotel was put on the island, the island itself became British territory when they established Fort Mackinac there. This was established during the American Revolution as the British controlled it for much of the 18th Century before American troops occupied it. It became the site of two battles during the War of 1812 for control of the Great Lakes area and the United States won strategically adding the land to Michigan. The fort closed in 1895 and is solely used as a museum for visitors to the island.After the Civil War, the wealthy sought out places to escape the summer heat and busy, congested cities. As a result, Mackinac Island, which has a favorable climate in the summer, became one of many resort destinations in the country. For many years, the Jacob Astor House Hotel was where visitors stayed on the island, but this all changed when the Grand Hotel was built. Two railroad companies—the Michigan Central Railroad and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad—and the Detroit Steamship Navigation Company formed the Mackinac Island Hotel Company to build the hotel. It was first constructed in 1887.The hotel was built on a very rapid timetable spanning just over 90 days. Michigan Senator Francis B. Stockbridge had purchased the property on which the hotel now stands in 1882. He wanted Michigan to have a fine summer resort hotel and promised to hold the land until such a facility was built upon it. Stockbridge turned down prospective plans from several of the nation's hotel developers until he met with John Oliver Plank, a leading resort operator who had three successful hotels in New England. Plank supervised the building of the Grand Hotel during the spring and summer of 1887 and served as the lessee as well as the general manager of the property until 1890. Charles Caskey of Harbor Springs was the general contractor on the project.The hotel was built in the Queen Anne architectural style and has the world’s longest porch spanning 600 feet wide. American designer Carleton Varney had helped design the hotel into it’s 19th Century appearance. There is over 300 rooms within the Grand Hotel with seven named after American First Ladies. Some examples being Jacqueline Kennedy, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan. The porch overlooks a vast Tea Garden and a very large swimming pool.An enthusiastic reporter for the Detroit Free Press attended the hotel's opening ceremony on July 10, 1887 and reported in part, as follows:<blockquote>"Last Friday afternoon, Plank's Grand Hotel was taken possession of by John O. Plank and his estimable wife and J. Frank Davidson, the chief clerk, with a full corps of officials and domestics. Hon. Hugh McCurdy was invited to dedicate the register and register first, which he did with this brief, but expressive phrase: 'Patronage plenty and prosperity to Plank's Grand Hotel,' and that same afternoon 204 guests were duly registered and domiciled in one of the best hotels in the West."</blockquote>One of the most photographed sites in Michigan, the Grand Hotel has served as the setting for two Hollywood feature films: the 1947 musical comedy “This Time for Keeps,” starring Jimmy Durante and Esther William and the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time,” starring Christopher Reeve and Jayne Seymour. The hotel also has hosted many notable events like parties visited by five U.S. Presidents (Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Ford, and Bush). Inventor Thomas Edison also demonstrated the first use of the phonograph at this hotel. Author Mark Twin stayed at this hotel and gave some lectures to readers here. It also serves as a the headquarters for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Built in 1887, the Grand Hotel is one of the last great wooden- framed hotels in the country and also one of the top rated in the world. It’s name is befitting given the hotel’s enormous size and world-class accommodations. A few American presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and George W. Bush have stayed here. Foreign leaders have been guests as well, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lightbulb inventor Thomas Edison, who gave the first public demonstration of the phonograph here, and book author Mark Twain are other notable guests. Since the hotel opened, over 5 million people have stayed at the hotel. It also has the world's longest porch at 600 feet and the 390 hotel rooms are all different with seven of them having been named after First Ladies, including Jacqueline Kennedy and Laura Bush. The hotel was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The Grand Hotel

The company built a complex of four buildings here, one of which (the clerk's quarters)&nbsp;was demolished. One is now the community building and the other two are the fire hall and the courthouse/police department. The demand for furs (mainly in Europe) declined in the 1830s and the company eventually ceased operations in 1847. After that the agent's house was used as a boarding house. In 1871, it became the John&nbsp;Jacob Astor House Hotel and operated as such until the Grand Hotel was built in 1929. The hotel connected the buildings with palisades, but these were eventually torn down after the hotel closed. The museum opened in 1941. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

This house dates back to the height of the fur trade industry in the upper Great Lakes region. It was built in 1817 by the American Fur Trade Company to house its resident agent as well as other agents and clerks. The company grew to dominate the trade and its owner and founder, Jacob Astor, became one of the wealthiest men in the country. The building's namesake was the company's resident agent between 1820-1835. It is now a museum featuring exhibits about the fur trade and 17th century European explorations. There is a recreated period bedroom as well as several models of local houses and lighthouses on display. 

Robert Stuart House

&nbsp;The fort was constructed to protect Fort Mackinac against an anticipated United States attack during the war. The fort was a safety precaution because soldiers could see straight across the Great Lakes to see incoming attacks. The attack came in the summer of 1814 although no fighting was actually done at the fort. When United States soldiers peacefully reoccupied the island after the War of 1812 the fort was renamed Fort Holmes in honor of American Major Andrew Hunter Holmes who was killed in the 1814 battle of Mackinac Island. The fort was occupied by United States troops for just a few years after the War of 1812 until it was abandoned and allowed to decay. The site was included as part of Mackinac National Park when it was developed in 1875 and Mackinac Island State Park in 1895. It was the site of at least two different viewing towers to enjoy the magnificent views of the Straits of Mackinac from the high vantage point. In the 1930’s the federal government, through the Works Progress Administration, reconstructed the fort walls and blockhouse. In 2015, the Mackinac Island State Park completed a second reconstruction of Fort Holmes that resumes the appearance that the fort would have had in 1817. The restored blockhouse includes interpretive panels inside, and is open to visitors for free in the summer. Many visitors come to the fort site for a view of the Straits of Mackinac, much of which is visible from this lookout point approximately 310 feet above the surface of Lake Huron.&nbsp;

Fort Holmes is a small, wood and earthen fort on the southern end of the highest ridge on Mackinac Island. It also sits at the highest elevation on the island.The fort was constructed by British soldiers in 1814 during the War of 1812 and was originally named Fort George in honor of King George III.

Fort Holmes

In 1836, Indian agent Henry Schoolcraft and many of the&nbsp;tribes inhabiting Michigan signed the Treaty of Washington, which stipulated that the tribes would give up their lands and the government would provide them with an annuity and would teach them farming techniques as well as handcrafts such as Blacksmithing. Another part of the agreement was the construction of the dormitory, in which the Indians could stay when they came to the town to collect annuity payments.&nbsp; After these payments expired, Indians stopped coming and the original need for the dormitory ended. From 1867-1960, it was used as a public school. The Parks Commission bought it a few years later and opened it as a museum of Native American culture in 1966. It remained as such until 2003 when it was decided that the museum's interpretation of these cultures was outdated and inaccurate. The current museum then opened in 2010. &nbsp;

Originally built as an Indian agent's office and dormitory in 1838, the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum features a wide variety of items on display including Native American art and artifacts, 17th and 18th century maps of the Great Lakes, Victorian era items, photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries, and contemporary works by local artists. The building is a Michigan State Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum

Catholic masses and other ministries&nbsp;were held at the church after the mission closed. Festivals and traveling performing groups also used the building. Over these years the church was not well maintained. In 1955, the&nbsp;Mackinac Island State Park Commission&nbsp;bought it and did some renovations. Extensive renovations then took place in the 1980s.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Mission Church, built in 1831, is the oldest church in Michigan and belonged to the first permanent Protestant mission established in the Northwest territory in the early 1820s. The congregation began to decline in the early 1830s as the fur trade started to decline and the Native Americans the mission was ministering to were forced to migrate west of the Mississippi River. The mission property and church itself were then used for a variety of purposes for many years. Today, the church is restored and used for events including weddings. It can be visited during in the summer in the afternoon. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History of Mackinac Island, Michigan Tour

Fort Mackinac

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information