Mackinac Island State Park
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| Mackinac Island State Park | |
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| Location: | Michigan, USA |
| Nearest city: | Mackinac Island, Michigan |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 1,800 acres (7 km²) |
| Established: | 1875 (national Park); 1895 (state park) |
| Governing body: | Michigan Department of Natural Resources |
Mackinac Island State Park is located in the U.S. state of Michigan on Mackinac Island in Lake Huron just east of the Straits of Mackinac. It covers about 1,800 acres (7 km²) and 80% of the land on Mackinac Island.
Mackinac National Park, later known as Mackinac Island National Park, was created in 1875, the second national park in the United States after Yellowstone National Park. In 1895, it was transferred to Michigan and became Mackinac Island State Park, the first state park in Michigan.
The park contains Fort Mackinac and Fort Holmes, other historic buildings, historic sites, and limestone caves and rock formations. The park also operates the Mackinac Island Airport.
It is one of six units of Mackinac State Historic Parks, the other units being Fort Mackinac, the historic downtown buildings of Mackinac Island, Colonial Michilimackinac, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, and Historic Mill Creek.
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[edit] War of 1812
Mackinac Island played an important role in the War of 1812 between the United States and Canada (then a British colony). Fort Mackinac, upon the island, was built by the British army during the Revolutionary War. The British later relinquished the fort to the Americans in 1796, but then built and maintained a similar fort on nearby St. Joseph Island. The two nations used their island forts in a struggle to maintain supremacy over the waters of northern Lake Huron. As one of the opening actions of the War of 1812, the British captured Fort Mackinac and maintained it as a British stronghold until the end of the war. An American attempt to recapture the fort in 1814 failed in the Battle of Mackinac Island. When the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent in 1815, the island was returned to American control.
[edit] Information centers
- Soldiers' Barracks (in Fort Mackinac; admission charged)
- Visitor Center (free)
- Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau (free information year round)
[edit] Historic buildings
- Fort Mackinac
- Fort Holmes
- Mission Church
- Mission House
- Beaumont Museum
- Matthew Geary House
- Benjamin Blacksmith Shop
- Biddle House
- Governor's Mansion (Lawrence Andrew Young Cottage)
- Indian Dormitory
- McGulpin House
[edit] Historic sites
- Battlefield of 1814
- British Landing
- Cemeteries
- Lime Kiln
- Marquette Park
- Wawashkamo Golf Course
[edit] Caves and rock formations
- Arch Rock
- Gitchi Manitou
- Sugar Loaf
- Cave of the Woods
- Crack-in-the-Island
- Eagle Point Cave
- Skull Cave
- Friendship's Altar
- Sunset Rock (sometimes called Chimney Rock)
- Devil's Kitchen
- Robinson's Folly
[edit] References
- Mackinac State Historic Parks
- Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau Website
- Mackinac Island State Park, USGS Saint Ignace (MI) Topo. TopoZone. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
