
Lilac Scented Memories
Our Park Naturalist, Kyle, was recently doing some research and came across a couple of accounts of Mackinac’s lilacs dating to the 1840s. Learn more here!

Our Park Naturalist, Kyle, was recently doing some research and came across a couple of accounts of Mackinac’s lilacs dating to the 1840s. Learn more here!

Events galore within the Mackinac State Historic Parks family of sites!

One of the highlights of any visit to Fort Mackinac is interacting with our interpretive staff. Take a little peek behind the scenes on what it takes to open a site like Fort Mackinac and work here as an interpreter.

Enchanting. Relaxing. Magical. Mackinac evokes so many memories and images of a special place that has allowed individuals and families to create memories and unique experiences.

In 1878, Alfred and Alice Doherty settled in Clare, Michigan, in the midst of the state’s booming lumber industry…Their four children, Floyd, Frank, Lyda, and Alfred Jr., were raised in Clare and would grow up to love Mackinac Island.

In 1798 an article detailed plans for an exciting new museum, a “cabinet of curiosities,” located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Which Mackinac wonders would you pick to display in this “infant museum” of early America? How about nuts and wild rice?

In 1847, Horace Greeley and Lewis Clark, newspapermen from New York on a tour of the Great Lakes, were seated on the porch of Mission House and saw a giant creature out in the lake. They agreed it was a Sea Serpent! But was it?

As the calendar flips to the new year, the Mackinac State Historic Parks crew is busy preparing its historic sites and parks for an exciting 2023 season.

Wintering on Mackinac Island has always been a desolate and isolated affair. While many were able to leave the island in winter, soldiers of the 23rd United States Infantry, Companies E and K, had to stay and adapt to their winter home.