Lost Hotels of Mackinac Island: The Windsor

A view of Hoban St. in 1919 with the Windsor in the distance showing the fourth floor and side addition added by Belle Gallagher by 1910.

The four-story, jade-colored building at the corner of Market and Hoban Streets has served as employee housing for Grand Hotel since the early 1980s. However, as the name board still declares, it was prior to this the Windsor Hotel.

Belle Gallagher (left) with step-daughter Florence (standing), daughter Mary and an unknown woman, ca. 1905.

The hotel was constructed in about 1890, likely owned by Charles Louisignau and named the Grand Central. He apparently never operated the hotel directly, but leased it to a string of proprietors. E. H. Basset is the first known in 1893, followed by “Hixon and Avery” in 1895. In 1898 Henry and Sadie Stoddard began a five-year lease, renaming it the Brunswick. However, in 1901 Louisignau sold the property to Belle Gallagher. She intended running the hotel on her own, ending the Stoddard lease. The Stoddards promptly sued Louisgnau and Gallagher in a case that was ultimately appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. The court found in favor of Stoddard.

Belle Gallagher card from her earlier boarding house on Fort St.

The court case eventually behind her, Belle Gallagher (1864-1949) ran the hotel until her death, renaming it the Windsor in 1905. Born Mary Isabella Walsh in Scotland, Belle married Anthony Gallagher (d. 1934) of Mackinac Island in 1893, who had a daughter, Florence (b. 1888), from a previous marriage. Anthony and Belle had another daughter, Mary (1894-1979). The marriage ended in divorce by 1900. Both Anthony, who worked as house painter and Belle continued to live on the island, although Belle had custody of both children. Belle had run a boarding house in the building later used as the parsonage for Trinity Church on Fort Street before purchasing the Brunswick.

Florence and Mary Gallagher, ca. 1900

Belle eventually acquired a winter hotel in Daytona, Florida, splitting her year between there and Mackinac Island. She died at the Windsor in 1949 and Florence and Mary inherited the business. The death date of Florence is unknown. Mary continued to operate the hotel until about 1977, when she sold it to Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel provided her with an apartment in another housing unit until her death in 1979.

The building originally consisted of three stories with a flat roof crowned by an entablature across the front. The double-decker porch and separate third-floor balcony were part of the original design. Belle made several changes to the hotel by 1910, as documented by photographs. These included adding a fourth floor consisting of a hipped roof with dormers and a rear and south side addition. Today the building looks much as it has for the last century.