Work continues within Mackinac Island State Park, and volunteer opportunities are available. Learn more here
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?
Before the Straits of Mackinac became a center of international fur trade, its waters were renowned by generations of Native Americans as an abundant fishery. Of the many species in these freshwater seas, the delicate whitefish, usually weighing 3-5 pounds, was the most prized catch of all.
Mackinac State Historic Parks is commemorating the bicentennial of the accident that led to Dr. William Beaumont’s famous experiments on the digestive system. In addition to the Beaumont Museum, there are several other tributes to Beaumont on Mackinac Island.
Mackinac Island is blessed with a number of natural springs which percolate through limestone bedrock. Some, like Dwightwood Spring and Croghan Water, are well known. Others not as much. Learn more about them here.
When you think about the Great Lakes fur trade, you probably think about canoes, right? While canoes were an integral part of the trade, they weren’t the only watercraft on the lakes.
Mackinac State Historic Parks maintains more than 100 buildings. Most are public, like the buildings inside Colonial Michilimackinac and Fort Mackinac. Others are behind the scenes, like the Petersen Center. Learn more about the administrative office of MSHP here.
Robert Campbell constructed a water-powered sawmill at Mill Creek about 1790, being the first of its kind in northern Michigan. Prior to the mill, trees were turned into lumber entirely with hand tools for more than 100 years at the Straits of Mackinac.
It’s time for another deep dive into the collection! Today Dr. Lynn Evans, Curator of Archaeology, shows us on Orvietan Lid.
As the calendar flips to the new year, Mackinac State Historic Parks staff are busy readying new tours, exhibits, publications, and more.
