A New Exhibit at Michilimackinac: The Commanding Officer’s House

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.

In addition to the new rooms, carpenters also created a new hallway in the center of the house.

Work on the new exhibit began the day after Colonial Michilimackinac closed in October 2015. Crews removed a large glass barrier as well as furniture, artifacts, and signs from the old exhibit.

Our intent with this project is to better present the home and life of Michilimackinac’s commanding officer in the 1770s, Captain Arent DePeyster. Since the old exhibits in the house didn’t accurately reflect the way DePeyster or his wife Rebecca lived at Michilimackinac in the 1770s, our historians began a comprehensive research program almost a year ago to learn more about the living conditions and everyday lives of British officers in North America. This research included historic documents relating to the Michilimackinac commanding officer’s house, archaeological reports generated when the original house was excavated in 1959-60, and historic accounts of officers’ quarters at other British posts in the 18th century.

Old exhibits in the Commanding Officer’s House included a billiard room. Research indicates that while there was likely a billiard room at Michilimackinac, it was not in the commander’s house. This room will be the DePeyster’s bedroom in the new exhibit.

With the old exhibit removed, staff carpenters divided the interior into four new rooms. This will be the kitchen.

This research is now guiding the design and writing of the new exhibit. It’s also led to major structural changes in the reconstructed Commanding Officer’s House. The day after Michilimackinac closed for the season, our carpenters and exhibit team began dismantling the old displays. Based on historic documents and archaeological evidence, the carpenters built several new walls and an interior stairway, creating four separate rooms and a central hallway. These four rooms will become a kitchen, bedroom, parlor, and a modern exhibit gallery. All four of the old exterior doorways were transformed into windows, and two new doorways were cut through the exterior wall to access the central hallway. The carpenters have now shifted to building new windows and doors, as well as new cabinetry for each of the four rooms. Masonry contractors have been working hard to stabilize the existing four hearths and chimneys, preparing one for daily use in the kitchen. Soon, the masons will begin plastering the building’s interior to create smoothly finished walls.

Some of the most complex work so far involved transforming four exterior doors into windows (see here without shutters) and cutting two new doorways (covered here with plywood) into the house.

While all of this work has been happening in the house itself, there’s also been a great deal of work performed to collect items for display in the new exhibit, and to write and design the exhibit displays. Check back in the coming weeks for more updates about these aspects of the new exhibit, and we hope you’ll join us when the new Commanding Officer’s House opens in 2016!