2018 Collections Acquisitions Posted January 14, 2019 Weidenaar etching of ‘Big Mac.’ In 2018, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission accessioned 120 gifts and 82 purchases to the historic object and archival collection. Among the objects acquired was an 1891 register from the New Mackinac Hotel, a walking stick that belonged to park commissioner James Dunnigan, a plastic viewfinder with slide images of Mackinac Island and several photograph albums. During the year, the park purchased two miniature etchings by Reynold Weidenaar, a black and white photograph showing early transportation in the park and accepted a donation of images showing a prominent Mackinac Island family. Weidenaar etching ‘At Mackinac Straits’. In 2017, the park commission purchased the mezzotint Bridge Builders by Michigan artist Reynold Weidenaar. This was the last of three large etchings showing the Mackinac Bridge being built that the park needed to complete its collection. This year, staff were made aware of two miniature etchings of the bridge also done by the artist. At Mackinac Straits and Big Mac were purchased and will complete the collection which will be on display in The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum. (more…)
Invasive Species Want to Come to Mackinac, too! Posted September 26, 2016 Things are always changing in the natural world. At any one location, some species become rarer as time passes, while other species become more common. In a mature northern Michigan forest these changes in species composition usually take a long time to occur and are rarely noticed by a casual observer. Over the years many species of plants and animals have been intentionally or accidentally introduced to Mackinac Island and its forests. A small percentage of those non-native species have become Invasive. (more…)
Fort Mackinac and the Mackinac National Park Posted January 22, 2016 Lt. Calvin Cowles, along with Lt. Benjamin Morse, surveyed the National Park in 1885. This year, the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary. By 1916, the Mackinac National Park had already passed into and out of existence, its fate linked to the fortunes of Fort Mackinac. After Congress created Yellowstone in 1872, Senator Thomas Ferry introduced legislation to create a second park on Mackinac Island. In addition to the island’s attractive history and natural features, the U.S. government already owned much of the island as part of the Fort Mackinac military reservation and the soldiers stationed at Fort Mackinac could act as caretakers. As a result, the park would cost almost nothing, which Ferry knew appealed to the tight-fisted Congressmen of the 1870s. After two years of campaigning, President Ulysses Grant created the Mackinac National Park, the second park in the country, on March 3, 1875. (more…)
New Historical Marker Commemorates the Rear Parade Ground and Scout Barracks Posted July 21, 2015 On July 25 the newest Michigan Historical Marker will be formally dedicated. It will be the twenty-first marker on the island. Fort Mackinac from the north, ca. 1890. The baseball field can be seen at center left, with the grandstand at extreme left. The rear parade ground north of Fort Mackinac is a distinctive Mackinac Island landscape, an integral part of the operation of Fort Mackinac for both military use and, beginning in 1885, as a baseball field. After the closing of the fort in 1895 the Mackinac Island State Park Commission maintained this historic landscape, including the baseball field. The barracks for the Mackinac Island Scout Service Camp was built here in 1934. The new, double-sided marker commemorates both the historic landscape and the Scout Barracks. (more…)
Mackinac State Historic Parks 2014 Collections Review Posted February 27, 2015 The Mackinac Island State Park Commission accessioned over 120 gifts and 67 purchases to the state park historic object and archival collections in 2014. The items represent a board spectrum of Straits of Mackinac history covering topics such as shipwrecks, the Mackinac Island Scout Service Camp and businesses in Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island. Many of the donations were given to the park for the new Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Museum at Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. Diving gear including a dry suit, pants, boots, gloves and air tank were donated to show how diving was done in the 1970’s. From the S.S. Cedarville, a station bill represents the most recent tragedy in the straits and safety gear including a lifeboat oar represents equipment found on ships to save lives. Purchased were a ships compass and radio to tell the story of navigation and communication on the lakes. (more…)