Cleanup is progressing within Mackinac Island State Park. The park will be ready for the 2025 season. Learn more here
If you attend the Colonial Christmas event at Colonial Michilimackinac, you will experience part of how Christmas was celebrated at the Mission of St. Ignace at Michilimackinac in 1679. An earlier Jesuit Christmas celebration resulted in the first North American Christmas Carol, the Huron Carol.
Merry Christmas!
“What though the woods are bare and cheerless, the water-courses bound by fetters of ice, and the whole earth covered with snow? A cheery greeting, for all that, to those who burn the Yule log and brighten their homes with the holly and yew. They say these days are the embers of the dying year; then kindle the flames of life and love anew. Light up the candles that gleam in the branches of evergreen. Hang Christmas boxes on every bough. Make every one happy, old and young. Rejoice!”
Forest and Stream, December 25, 1873
Throughout Fort Mackinac’s military history, British and American soldiers were issued bayonets to complement their shoulder arms. Learn a bit more about them here:
Two hundred years ago, the incredible tale of Sergeant James Wingard, a survivor of Mackinac Island’s most terrible day, was the talk at dinner tables across the nation.
Are there deer on Mackinac Island? How did they get there? Learn about the fascinating history of deer on Mackinac Island here.
Mackinac Associates helps fund projects both large and small and this past year was no exception with nearly $200,000 in projects sponsored across Mackinac State Historic Parks sites and operations.
It was 75 years ago this week that the other major Hollywood film featuring Mackinac Island, “This Time for Keeps” was released.
“Perhaps now, mon cheri, you will believe in les feu follet?” Fort Fright is based on French tales told at Michilimackinac. Enjoy “Les Feu Follet,” from “Were-Wolves and Will-O-The-Wisps.”
Fort Fright is October 4-5. But what is Fort Fright actually about? Learn more here!
