Mackinac Island is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles (11.3 km2) in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century. It was a strategic center of the fur trade around the Great Lakes. Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the site of two battles during the War of 1812 before the northern border was settled and the US gained this island in its territory.
Mackinac County is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 10,834. The county seat is St. Ignace. Formerly known as Michilimackinac County, in 1818 it was one of the first counties of the Michigan Territory, as it had long been a center of French and British colonial fur trading, a Catholic church and Protestant mission, and associated settlement.
Clark Township is a civil township of Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 2,256.
St. Ignace is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Mackinac County. The city had a population of 2,306 at the 2020 census. St. Ignace Township is located just to the north of the city, but the two are administered autonomously.
Le Griffon was a sailing vessel built by French explorer and fur trader René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in the Niagara area of Canada in 1679.
The Straits of Mackinac are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is 3+1⁄2 miles wide with a maximum depth of 295 feet, and connects the Great Lakes of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Given the large size and configuration of the straits, hydrologically, the two connected lakes are one body of water, studied as Lake Michigan–Huron. Historically, the native Odawa people called the region around the Straits Michilimackinac.
M-185 is a state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan that circles Mackinac Island, a popular tourist destination on the Lake Huron side of the Straits of Mackinac, along the island's shoreline. A narrow paved road of 8.004 miles (12.881 km), it offers scenic views of the straits that divide the Upper and the Lower peninsulas of Michigan and Lakes Huron and Michigan. It has no connection to any other Michigan state trunkline highways—as it is on an island—and is accessible only by passenger ferry. The City of Mackinac Island, which shares jurisdiction over the island with the Mackinac Island State Park Commission (MISPC), calls the highway Main Street within the built-up area on the island's southeast quadrant, and Lake Shore Road elsewhere. M-185 passes by several important sites within Mackinac Island State Park, including Fort Mackinac, Arch Rock, British Landing, and Devil's Kitchen. Lake Shore Road carries the highway next to the Lake Huron shoreline, running between the water's edge and woodlands outside the downtown area.
Jean Nicolet (Nicollet), Sieur de Belleborne was a French coureur des bois noted for exploring Lake Michigan, Mackinac Island, Green Bay, and being the first European to set foot in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan, is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popular tourist destination, it is home to several small- to medium-sized cities, extensive state and national forests, lakes and rivers, and a large portion of Great Lakes shoreline. The region has a significant seasonal population much like other regions that depend on tourism as their main industry. Northern Lower Michigan is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale, which are also located in "northern" Michigan. In the northernmost 21 counties in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, the total population of the region is 506,658 people.
M-134 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of the US state of Michigan. It connects Interstate 75 (I-75) north of St. Ignace with the communities of Hessel, Cedarville and De Tour Village along Lake Huron. East of De Tour, the highway crosses the De Tour Passage on a ferry to run south of the community of Drummond on Drummond Island. It is one of only three state trunklines in Michigan on islands; the others are M-154 on Harsens Island and M-185 on Mackinac Island. M-134 is also one of only two highways to utilize a ferry in Michigan; the other is US Highway 10 (US 10) which crosses Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to Ludington. Most of the mainland portion of M-134 is also part of the Lake Huron Circle Tour, and since 2015, it has been a Pure Michigan Byway under the name M-134 North Huron Byway.
The Bayview Mackinac Boat Race is run by the Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world with over two hundred boats entering the race each year.
Marquette Island is the largest of the 36 islands in the Les Cheneaux archipelago of northern Michigan, United States. Located in Mackinac County on the north shore of Lake Huron, the island has a small summer population. It is 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) wide. Its geographic center is close to 45 degrees 57 minutes N., 84 degrees 23 minutes W.
Michigan consists of two peninsulas surrounded primarily by four of the Great Lakes and a variety of nearby islands. The Upper Peninsula is bounded on the southwest by Wisconsin, and the Lower Peninsula is bounded on the south by Indiana and Ohio. Both land masses are also separated from the Canadian province of Ontario by waterways of the Great Lakes, and from each other by the Straits of Mackinac. Because its land is largely surrounded by the Great Lakes, which flow into the Saint Lawrence River, Michigan is the only U.S. state whose streams and rivers are almost entirely within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed.
The Islington Hotel was a family owned and operated lakefront inn located in Cedarville, Michigan in the state's Eastern Upper Peninsula. Constructed in the late 19th century, the facility lodged and entertained summer guests for more than 60 years with a tradition of friendliness and graciousness. During its heyday it was considered to be one of the finest seasonal hotels in the Upper Midwest.
Mackinac Island Ferry Company is a ferry boat company serving Mackinac Island in Michigan. The company has a dock at Mackinaw City and two at St. Ignace.
The Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show is held in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the city of Hessel, Michigan. Founded in 1978, the event is held every year during the second week of August. The event brings about 8,000 to 10,000 boaters and visitors each year from all over the United States coming together to appreciate antique boats. The boats featured in the event include dinghies, rowboats, canoes, launches, sailboats, utilities, runabouts and large cruisers. On average there are about 150 boat entries each year. Along with the boat show there is The Festival of Arts.
Due to its unique geography, being made of two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes, Michigan has depended on many ferries for connections to transport people, vehicles and trade. The most famous modern ferries are those which carry people and goods across the Straits of Mackinac to the car-free Mackinac Island but before the Mackinac Bridge was built, large numbers of ferries carried people and cars between the two peninsulas. Other ferries continue to provide transportation to small islands and across the Detroit River to Canada. Ferries once provided transport to island parks for city dwellers. The state's only national park, Isle Royale cannot be reached by road and is normally accessed by ferry. The largest ferries in Michigan are the car ferries which cross Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. One of these, the SS Badger is one of the last remaining coal steamers on the Great Lakes and serves as a section of US Highway 10 (US 10). The Badger is also the largest ferry in Michigan, capable of carrying 600 passengers and 180 autos.
Shab-wa-way, also known by the names Chabowaywa, Shabwaway, Shab-we-we and Shabway among others, was an Odawa Chief who ruled over what is known today as the Les Cheneaux Islands.
