Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island, summer resort, Mackinac county, northern Michigan, U.S. It is situated in Lake Huron near the Straits of Mackinac and has ferry connections to St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, on Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas, respectively. The island, 8 miles (13 km) in circumference and thickly forested, has been a state park since 1895. It retains an 18th- and 19th-century atmosphere; automobiles are banned, and horses and buggies and bicycles are used for transport.

First visited by French explorers in the 1600s, the island was an ancient Indian burial ground called Michilimackinac (“Great Turtle”) when, because of its strategic location, the British established a fort there in 1780. After the United States took possession (1783), it became the headquarters of John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company and later developed as a resort. Occupied by the British during the War of 1812, it was regained by the United States in 1815.

The island is bordered by limestone cliffs and rises in the east to 339 feet (103 metres) above the surrounding waters. Geologic features include Skull Cave and landmarks such as Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf (a limestone tower).

The restored Fort Mackinac, Beaumont Memorial (dedicated to U.S. Army surgeon William Beaumont, who, while serving at the fort, made discoveries regarding human digestion), and the Stuart House (1817; the residence of the island’s American Fur Company agent) are preserved as historical museums. The island’s resplendently Victorian-style Grand Hotel dates from 1887. The annual Lilac Festival in June marks the start of the summer resort season. In July the island is the end point of the Race to Mackinac, a 333-mile (536-km) yacht race up Lake Michigan from Chicago that has been run since 1898.