Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

Category: History

More Models of Welcome

Last month, we shared the story of a small boat from the reconstructed sloop Welcome, which was transferred to MSHP from the Maritime Heritage Alliance of Traverse City. A few weeks later, our staff returned to Traverse City pick up two large models of Welcome. The MHA is streamlining their historic maritime collection of small craft and interpretive objects, and MSHP and the Maritime Heritage Alliance have a long history of collaborating to preserve and interpret Great Lakes maritime history.

What’s New for 2025?

 As the calendar flips to 2025, the Mackinac State Historic Parks team is hard at work protecting, preserving, and presenting the rich history of the Straits of Mackinac by creating new exhibits, galleries, and tours, improving visitor experiences, celebrating a major anniversary, expanding our collections area and library, and finishing major infrastructure improvements on Mackinac Island.

Thanksgiving Day at Mackinac (1831)

As we gather this Thanksgiving, may we be grateful for a bountiful harvest, the natural wonders around us, and family and friends to share them with, just as William and Amanda Ferry did in 1831.

Welcome Back, Welcome’s Boat!

In the early 1970s, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission decided to reconstruct “Welcome,” a trading vessel originally built in the mid-1770s. A small boat to accompany the sloop was also built, and it’s now back home. Read on:

Chimney Rock Revisited

Our Park Naturalist, Kyle, is ready to set the story straight: Chimney Rock and Sunset Rock are not one and the same. Let’s revisit Chimney Rock:

A glacial erratic boulder found on the Lake Huron lakeshore, brown or rust colored with a black stripe.

Lost Rocks & Mackinac Millstones

The millstones currently on display at Historic Mill Creek are the originals, and they had a wild ride to get back to the site. But also – how were they made? And how did those rocks end up here at the Straits?