As a direct result of the American Revolution, the British abandoned Fort Michilimackinac (on the south shore of the Straits of Mackinac) and created the more easily defended Fort Mackinac, a stone fort on a cliff on an island. Fort Mackinac was a combination of new stone buildings and old wood buildings moved from the mainland. The provision storehouse is one of the buildings moved across the straits.
The site of the provision storehouse was the site of one of the largest archaeological excavations to take place at Fort Mackinac. This excavation was carried out during the summers of 1981-82 by University of South Florida field schools directed by Dr. Roger T. Grange Jr. These were part of the commemoration of the bicentennial of Fort Mackinac. Dr. Grange’s final report was published as Number 12 in the Mackinac State Historic Parks’ Archaeological Completion Report Series and was the basis of this blog post.
The provision storehouse is an unusual structure because it has been excavated twice, in two different locations. It was originally built by British soldiers just inside the water gate at Michilimackinac in 1773. Because it was a relatively new building, it was moved to Mackinac Island when the garrison was relocated in 1781 and appears on early maps of Fort Mackinac
The mainland site was excavated in 1959 and the storehouse reconstructed in 1961.Today it houses the orientation film at Colonial Michilimackinac.
On the island, the structure served as a storehouse through the first British occupation (1780-1796), the first American occupation (1796-1812) and the second British occupation (1812-1815). After the War of 1812, it was converted into a barracks, with workspace for military tailors and shoemakers, and a hospital. Its use as a hospital (1815-1827) overlapped with the service of Fort Mackinac’s most famous post surgeon, Dr. William Beaumont. A portion of the storehouse appears as a log structure next to the 1827 hospital painted by Mary Nexsen Thompson shortly before it burned down days before completion.
A completely new hospital building was constructed in 1828, over the middle of the storehouse/1827 hospital, but oriented north-south instead of northeast-southwest like the original. A portion of the west end of the provision storehouse behind the 1828 hospital was the area of the archaeological excavation. No remnants of the provision storehouse are visible today, but you can stand on the original location while touring Fort Mackinac (open through October 24, 2026). You can also visit the reconstruction of the original provision storehouse at Colonial Michilimackinac (open through October 11, 2026).
By Dr. Lynn Evans
Curator of Archaeology
Originally posted January 27, 2023. Updated August 19, 2026.
