New Historical Marker Commemorates the Rear Parade Ground and Scout Barracks Posted July 21, 2015 On July 25 the newest Michigan Historical Marker will be formally dedicated. It will be the twenty-first marker on the island. Fort Mackinac from the north, ca. 1890. The baseball field can be seen at center left, with the grandstand at extreme left. The rear parade ground north of Fort Mackinac is a distinctive Mackinac Island landscape, an integral part of the operation of Fort Mackinac for both military use and, beginning in 1885, as a baseball field. After the closing of the fort in 1895 the Mackinac Island State Park Commission maintained this historic landscape, including the baseball field. The barracks for the Mackinac Island Scout Service Camp was built here in 1934. The new, double-sided marker commemorates both the historic landscape and the Scout Barracks. (more…)
