Mackinac

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Mackinaw or related spellings is the name of several different places and things, mostly related to the area where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. Mackinac is a derivation of a Menomini or Ojibwe word "Michilimackinac" and is pronounced [ˈmækɪnɔ] (MACK-in-awe).

Contents 1 Geographical 1.1 Populated areas 1.2 Forts 1.3 Constructions 2 Ships 3 Other

[edit] Geographical

• Straits of Mackinac connects the lakes and separates the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan
• Mackinac Island, an island in the straits which bans automobiles
• Michilimackinac was a term for the entire region around the Straits of Mackinac
• Mackinac Point, perhaps the northernmost point in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
• Mackinac Island State Park, which preserves a large part of the island
• Mackinaw River, a tributary of the Illinois River

[edit] Populated areas

• Mackinaw City, Michigan, village on the south side of straits
• Mackinaw Township, Michigan
• Mackinac County, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula

[edit] Forts

• Fort Michilimackinac, a French, later British, fort on the south side of the straits
• Fort Mackinac, a British, later American, fort on the island

[edit] Constructions

• Mackinac Bridge bridges the straits for road traffic.
• Mackinac Ferry, spanned the straits carrying railroad cars and motor vehicles
• Mackinac Point Lighthouse, a lighthouse in Mackinaw City

[edit] Ships

• Mackinaw boat, a type of small sailboat used in the Upper Great Lakes
• USS Mackinaw, a United States Navy gunboat commissioned twice between 1864 and 1867
• USS Mackinac (AVP-13), a United States Navy seaplane tender commissioned from 1942 to 1946, later used by the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1967, where redesignated USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371), and then (WHEC-371)
• USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83), a United States Coast Guard icebreaker on the Great Lakes commissioned from 1944 to 2006
• USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30), a United States Coast Guard icebreaker on the Great Lakes commissioned in 2006

[edit] Other

• Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a nonpartisan research and educational organization advocating free-market policies
• Mackinaw cloth, a heavy wool cloth
• Mackinaw, a short coat made of Mackinaw cloth
• Mackinaw Fur Company, founded by John Jacob Astor
• Mackinaw trout - another name for Lake trout.

There are also two long distance sailboat races, each often referred to as "the Mackinaw race": the Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race and the Chicago to Mackinac Boat Race.