Tea on the Michilimackinac Frontier Posted July 12, 2016 By the late 18th century, tea was firmly established as an integral part of British culture, and tea formed an important component of British social life in even the most remote corners of the empire, including places like Michilimackinac. (more…)
In the field again… Posted June 15, 2016 After a productive winter in the lab, the archaeology team is back in the field. This is the 58th season of archaeology at Michilimackinac. It is our ninth season at House E of the southeast rowhouse. This was a fur traders’ house, housing first the French-Canadian Gonneville family, then later an English trader. (more…)
Work Continues at Michilimackinac’s Commanding Officer’s House Posted May 24, 2016 In the two months since our last update about the new exhibit being installed in the Commanding Officer’s House at Colonial Michilimackinac, a great deal of work has taken place to prepare the building for opening later this summer. (more…)
Furnishing the Commanding Officer’s House Posted March 17, 2016 Although winter is still holding on at the Straits of Mackinac, work continues to prepare the Commanding Officer’s House for opening later this summer at Colonial Michilimackinac. Since our last update in early January, major construction has wrapped up inside the house. Masons are currently applying several coats of plaster to the interior walls, and our staff carpenters are busy restoring the windows removed from the house. They’ve also constructed several new doors, and will soon begin building new windows to compliment the ones they’ve already restored. (more…)
Snowshoeing at the Straits of Mackinac Posted January 15, 2016 Snowshoeing is a popular winter pastime in northern Michigan, but it’s not a new activity. People at the Straits of Mackinac needed snowshoes to go about their daily lives 250 years ago. Take a look at this brief video in which Museum Historian Craig Wilson describes the nature and the need of snowshoeing through the centuries. (more…)
A New Exhibit at Michilimackinac: The Commanding Officer’s House Posted January 4, 2016 Ever wonder what happens during the winter time at Mackinac State Historic Parks? Although our museums are closed for the winter, there’s still a lot of work going on to prepare for 2016. One of our major projects this winter is the renovation and reinterpretation of the Commanding Officer’s House at Michilimackinac, which will look completely different when visitors arrive next summer. (more…)
Robert Rogers at Michilimackinac Posted July 24, 2015 Although many of the historic residents of Michilimackinac were well-known around the Great Lakes and played key roles in the region’s development, few have remained as famous as Robert Rogers. Today known mostly for his exploits with ranger units during the Seven Years’ War in the late 1750s, Rogers also briefly served as the commanding officer of Michilimackinac, a position which brought him disgrace and financial ruin rather than the glory of his earlier military exploits. (more…)
Greening Michilimackinac Posted July 10, 2015 If you have visited Colonial Michilimackinac in recent years, you have probably noticed some changes to the site. We have a whole new building, bigger than any that had previously been reconstructed, new tours, programs and updated exhibits. We excavate every day in the summer, learn as much as we can from the artifacts that we find, and apply that information to ultimately reconstructing the buildings and the life that was there 250-300 years ago. But that word “life” can be tricky. What makes a neighborhood, village or city alive? Our staff believes that in addition to presenting a collection of buildings and artifacts, we can also share the smells, tastes and sounds of historic Michilimackinac. We have taken the challenge of making Michilimackinac come alive very literally. Right now there are 13 recreated gardens inside the fort’s palisade. Some are small or some, like the commanding officers’ garden, are actually quite large, containing 16 beds centered around a brass sundial and totaling around 785 square feet. All the gardens big and small in the 1770s were a source of food, medicine and household supplies. Due to the small space and diverse nature of food and household needs, many types of plants were tucked in together. One example of this is found in a small backyard garden that belonged to a French fur trader. In it there are planted chives, radishes and violets. (more…)
Weapons of Michilimackinac Posted June 15, 2015 Although it primarily served as a logistical center for the Great Lakes fur trade, the post of Michilimackinac remained a military establishment from the moment it was constructed by French soldiers in 1715 to the day the last British troops abandoned the fort in 1781. Especially during the period of British control (1761-81), Michilimackinac served as an increasingly important and well-defended military outpost. (more…)
A New Season – Archaeology at Michilimackinac Posted June 1, 2015 With the summer season rapidly approaching, another archaeology field season is upon us. Even though we are continuing where we stopped last August, there was some preparation necessary before we began excavating again. At the end of each season we line the site with plastic and straw bales to protect it from the weather over the winter. In the spring we have to remove all of this. This process began May 26. Then we re-established the grid strings we measure from, put out our water-screening stations and organized the other field equipment and supplies. Most of the crew arrived June 1, and after a few days of orientation and training, the field season was fully underway June 4. (more…)
