Grand Hotel was constructed by the Michigan Central Railroad, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and Detroit and Cleveland Steamship Navigation Company in 1887.  It was not uncommon for railroads, in particular, to become major investors in resort properties in order to encourage people to travel.  The first few seasons were rocky, but the hotel rocketed to success in the 1890s, becoming one of the chief Mackinac Island landmarks and icons.  It remained open even during the Great Depression and remains one of the few Victorian wooden resort hotels still operating in America.

Dining at Grand Hotel is one of the key features of a stay.  Over the past century and a quarter the menu offerings and china patterns have not changed.  Specimens of early china are rare.  The Park Commission owns the only two "PGH" examples known to exist.

Pictured here:
"PGH" Soup Plate, 1887-89 (1998.9.1)
Gift of Hugh Mabie
The "PGH" stands for "Plank's Grand Hotel."  During the first three seasons the hotel was known by this name, a condition of the manager John Oliver Plank.  According to family tradition, employees were allowed to take home chipped china.  This piece was passed through the family.

Planters Hotel/Grand Hotel Dinner Plate, Syracuse China Co., ca. 1910
(2002.5.1)
From 1900 to 1918 Grand Hotel was jointly managed with the Planter's Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.  The plate features Planter's Hotel Company logo in the center which includes two oval devices representing the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and Planter's Hotel in St. Louis.

Grand Hotel Salad Plate, Syracuse China Co., 1949 (2005.54.1)

On exhibit in Mackinac: An Island Famous In These Regions at Fort Mackinac.