Twilight Turtle Trek Posted October 14, 2021 Mackinac Island Turtle Trek – A lantern-lit ski and snowshoeing trek through some of Mackinac Island’s natural winter wonderland. The trail begins at Greany Grove (corner of Arch Rock Road and Huron Road) with a bonfire and hot chocolate. The trail is groomed, track set, lit by lanterns and approximately two miles long. This is a free event sponsored by Mackinac State Historic Parks, Mackinac Island Community Foundation and the Mackinac Island Ski Club.
Gurdon Hubbard and The Great Chicago Fire Posted October 8, 2021 Gurdon Hubbard.Hubbard’s cottage, “The Lilacs.” Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard first came to Mackinac Island in 1818 as a clerk for the American Fur Company. In the same year, his work took him to Chicago where he eventually settled and became one of the city’s most influential citizens. Hubbard’s business interests included opening the first meat packing plant in Chicago as well as being an insurance underwriter, land speculator and steamship company owner. He helped organize the Chicago Board of Trade, served as representative in the Illinois General Assembly in 1832-33 and was director of the Chicago Branch of the State Bank of Illinois. In 1855, Hubbard purchased eighty acres on the southern bluff of Mackinac Island and built a cottage called “The Lilacs” around 1870. On Sunday October 8, 1871, Hubbard and his wife Mary Ann attended morning services at the Reformed Episcopal Church in Chicago. Afterward, they had dinner with Hubbard’s cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hebard of Iowa, at the new Palmer House hotel. They returned home after attending evening services at Grace Methodist church and prepared for bed. As Mary Ann finished combing her hair, she looked out a window and noticed a large fire burning toward the southwest. The previous evening there had been a large fire in a wood planing mill on the city’s west side and she thought perhaps it had rekindled. She watched for several minutes and finally awoke Gurdon who quickly became concerned.Lithograph by Currier and Ives titled Chicago in Flames. Scene from the Chicago Fire of 1871. Gurdon dressed and prepared to take his family west of the city to his son’s home. Upon inspecting the route, Hubbard realized the fire was moving northeast and had jumped the river. When he returned to his home on LaSalle Street, he found the Hebards, who had left the Palmer House shortly before it was consumed. Several other family members, friends and neighbors were also there, hoping that the Hubbard’s brick house would protect them from the fire. Hubbard instructed several of the men to tear up the carpets, wet them in the cistern and spread them on the roof. Mary Ann and the maids provided food and beverage while the fire continued to move across the city.Madison and State Streets in Chicago after the fire. By Monday morning, the fire was only a few blocks away and nothing that Gurdon Hubbard could do would save his home. He and Mary Ann packed as much as they could and joined thousands of other Chicagoans as they fled the flames. Gurdon lost his fortune in the fire and was near bankruptcy due to investments in several of the insurance companies for which he was underwriter. Hubbard made the decision to pay off all the insurance losses for which he was directly responsible. Hubbard continued ownership of his cottage and property on Mackinac Island and it was suggested by a business associate that he sell some of the land to recoup some of his losses. In 1882, Hubbard borrowed money from wealthy Chicago friends and had his land on Mackinac Island surveyed and platted. The island had become the second national park in 1875 and property was in demand for constructing summer cottages. Hubbard’s idea was to build a fashionable resort hotel and cottage community. The land was platted for 132 building lots which he named “Hubbard’s Annex to the Mackinac National Park.” Hubbard promoted the lots throughout the Midwest and although the hotel was not built, he successfully developed a cottage community on the island that still thrives today. The sale of the lots helped Hubbard rebuild his fortune, most of which went to his family, as he passed away in 1884.Gurdon Hubbard and his wife, Mary Ann.Plat of “Hubbard’s Annex to the National Park.” On your next visit to Mackinac Island take a ride out on Annex Road and discover Hubbard’s Annex. The best source for Mackinac Island history, including the historic cottages and neighborhoods on Mackinac Island, is Fort Mackinac. The fort is open through October 24. Information on tickets can be found at mackinacparks.com.
Mackinac Island State Park Commission Meeting Posted September 28, 2021 A regular meeting of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission held at the Post Hospital Administrative Office on Mackinac Island. Click here for the meeting notice. Click here for the board packet. A joint work meeting between the Mackinac Island City Council and Mackinac Island State Park Commission will take place at 11:00 a.m. in the Webster Room at the Island House Hotel. Click here for that meeting notice. Click here for the meeting agenda.
Mackinac Island State Park Commission Meeting Posted September 28, 2021 A regular meeting of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission will be held at the Post Hospital Administrative Office on Mackinac Island. Click here for the official meeting notice. Click here for the meeting packet. A livestream of the meeting will be available at: youtube.com/mackinacstatehistoricparks
Mackinac Island State Park Commission Meeting Posted September 28, 2021 A regular meeting of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission will be held in the Petersen Center in Mackinaw City. The meeting will be live streamed at youtube.com/mackinacstatehistoricparks. Click here for the meeting packet.
Mackinac Island State Park Commission Meeting Posted September 28, 2021 A regular meeting of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission to be held at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Lyon Meadows Conference Center in New Hudson. The meeting will be streamed live on youtube.com/mackinacstatehistoricparks. Click here for the meeting packet.
Mackinac Island State Park Commission Meeting Posted September 27, 2021 A regular meeting of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission to be held in Birmingham at The Community House, 380 South Bates Street, Birmingham, MI 48009. Click here for the meeting and agenda.
What’s in the basement? Posted September 17, 2021 For more than 20 years, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse has been restored to its 1910s glory. In that time numerous exhibits, galleries, and tours have been added to the experience, and, just last year, the second floor of the house was opened for the first time in its history. However, we still get one question more than the others: what’s in the basement? Chief Curator Craig Wilson takes us into the basement to show us what’s there:
Michilimackinac Archaeology 2021 Wrap-Up Posted September 10, 2021 Southeast root cellar. This image shows the cellar shortly before completion. Only a gray circular area of cultural deposit, probably a postmold, and remnants of the south wall remain. The 2021 Michilimackinac field season came to a satisfying end in late August. After seven seasons of excavation, we have finally reached the bottom of the southeast root cellar! The cellar was first tentatively identified in 2015. Since that time remnants of the north, west and south walls have been exposed and excavated along with a wide variety of interesting artifacts. More cellar deposit and the east wall are still present in the east profile and extending into the area of the House D excavation where the cellar was identified, but not excavated.Central cellar. The dark soil surrounded by lighter sand is the central cellar. Six posts are now visible along the eastern edge of the cellar, two on the south, three on the west, and one on the north. The central cellar, on the other hand, became better defined and shows no sign of ending. It continued to yield trade goods, such as hawk bells, and structural artifacts, such as a hinge. A second new square was opened in the north row of squares where we eventually expect to find evidence of the north wall of the house. Both squares opened this summer are now down to the rubble layer created by the 1781 demolition of the fort. The newest square yielded the most interesting artifact of the second half of the season, a clear, circular intaglio set with Masonic symbols on it. The square and compass surrounding the letter G are easy to see. The surrounding symbols are not as legible but appear to include a trowel on the left. The set is .42” in diameter and could be from a linked button or a ring. While the lodge at Mackinac (St. John’s #15) was not established until 1784 on Mackinac Island, many of the soldiers and traders at Michilimackinac were members of lodges in Detroit or further east. Known Masons at Michilimackinac include: Major Robert Rogers, Lt. John Christie, Captain John Vattas, Lt. Robert Brooks, Lt. George Clowes, Surgeon’s Mate David Mitchell, Felix Graham, Benjamin Lyon, Forrest Oakes, David Rankin, and Ezekiel Solomon.Masonic intaglio from a linked button or ring. This list is a starting point for possible owners of the intaglio. It could be a clue to the “British trader” who owned the house or could have been lost by a guest of his. It is particularly interesting to note that three other residents of the southeast rowhouse were Masons, Lt. Clowes (House A/B), Ezekiel Solomon (House C), and David Mitchell (House D).The site is packed and waiting for spring. The 2021 field season was sponsored by Mackinac Associates, and we thank them for their generous support.
Chief Wawatam 110th Launching Anniversary Posted August 27, 2021 Frank Kirby Due to increased railroad traffic across the Straits of Mackinac, the Mackinac Transportation Company decided in 1910 that a new ferry needed to be built. The company had two ferries at the time, the St. Ignace, built in 1888, and the revolutionary Sainte Marie, completed in 1893. These vessels had been designed by noted Great Lakes naval architect Frank Kirby and he was asked to plan the new ship. The keel was laid on June 1, 1911 at the Toledo Shipbuilding Company of Toledo, Ohio as hull number 119. The ship was christened Chief Wawatam after an Ojibway Indian who befriended British fur trader Alexander Henry in the 1760s.Captain Louis Boynton At 9:10 a.m. on August 26, 1911, the Chief Wawatam was side launched with no ceremony or traditional breaking of champagne on her bow. Charles Calder, part owner of the shipyard, recorded that it was a clear day and the launching proceeded with “not a scratch on her hull.” The ship was 338 feet long, 62 feet wide and had a draft of 20.7 feet. Built with a steel hull, she would be the largest and most powerful railroad ferry to serve the straits. She could carry 28 to 32 railroad cars depending on their size. The hull was taken to a fit-out dock where work was completed. The ship set sail for the straits on October 16, 1911 with Commodore Louis Boynton in command. The Chief was constructed with many unique features including three engines, two in the stern for propulsion and one in the bow for ice breaking. The bow propellor first appeared on the St. Ignace after Boynton successfully used two vessels tied bow to bow to break ice. The ship was one of the first to have electricity for lighting although lanterns continued to be carried as backup. In order to protect the open bow, the anchor was placed on the stern. Thus, the vessel could anchor stern-to during a storm preventing water from entering through the sea gate. For many years, the ship bore the words “U.S. Mail” on her bow as she carried letters and packages between the two peninsulas. The Chief Wawatam operated at the Straits of Mackinac until August of 1984 when the railroad pier in St. Ignace collapsed. The ship remained tied to the dock until 1988 when the State of Michigan, which owned the vessel, sold it to Purvis Marine Limited of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Prior to her departure, numerous objects, paper material and other items were selected and removed by Mackinac State Historic Parks staff. The plan was for the state park to store the collection until a transportation museum in St. Ignace could be built. Funding for the museum fell through and the state park continues to be the home for the collection. Objects including the ship’s steering wheel and engine room telegraph are on display in the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse.
