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Mackinac Island's main town, looking west. Transportation on the island is by horse, bike, or foot.Photo: n8huckins · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island dates to 1671, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

10 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Grand Hotel, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 14 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1880.

1671founded
10on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mackinac Island’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mackinac Island began

When was Mackinac Island founded?

1671

Mackinac Island dates its founding to 1671 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 720 in 18802020 census: 583355 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1819.The full story ↓

What stands out about Mackinac Island’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mackinac Island, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1671, 105 years before the Declaration of Independence.A National Historic Landmark10 places on the National Register, including Grand Hotel, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mackinac Island’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mackinac Island’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewIsland of Mackinac Scenery, No. 216. Ma…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Mackinac Island’s post office has been open since 1884. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Michilimackinac
1819–1822
Mackinac
1822–1863
Mackinaw
1863–1876
Mackinac
1876–1884
Mackinac Island
1884–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
British LandingFort HolmesFort Mackinac
Gone or out of use
Early Missionary Bark Chapel Historical MarkerparkIndian Dormitory Historical MarkerparkOld Agency House Historical Markerpark
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mackinac Island
Fort Mackinac PostMackinac IslandSaint Anne's Catholic

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Mackinac Island, 1671 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1671
    FoundingMackinac Island is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1819Post officeThe Michilimackinac post office opens
  5. 1822Post officeThe Michilimackinac post office closes
  6. 1822Post officeThe Mackinac post office opens
  7. 1825BuiltMission House is built
  8. 1844Born hereElizabeth Whitney Williams is born here
  9. 1846BuiltMathew Geary House is built
  10. 1860In the archiveIsland of Mackinac Scenery, No. 216. Mackinac from Fort (NBY 1700)
  11. 1863Post officeThe Mackinac post office closes
  12. 1863Post officeThe Mackinaw post office opens
  13. 1875BuiltFort Mackinac is built
  14. 1876Post officeThe Mackinaw post office closes
  15. 1894Born hereGerald F. Bogan is born here
  16. 20th century
  17. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 942
  18. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  19. 1989LandmarkGrand Hotel named a National Historic Landmark
  20. 21st century
  21. 2010BuiltIndian Dormitory is built
The story

How Mackinac Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mackinac Island.

Read it all →

Andrew Blackbird was the son of an Ottawa chief and served as an official interpreter for the U.S. government in the late 19th century. According to his 1887 history of the indigenous peoples of Michigan, the people of Mackinac Island had been a small independent tribe known as Mi-shi-ne-macki naw-go. They became affiliated with the larger tribe of Ottawa from Ottawa Island (now Manitoulin Island) situated north of Lake Huron.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Mackinac Island, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s3 items
Island of Mackinac Scenery, No. 216. Mackinac from Fort (NBY 1700)1860Island of Mackinac Scenery, No. 216. Mackinac from Fo…Approach to battlefield1865Approach to battlefieldThe Isle, Mackinaw1865The Isle, Mackinaw
On the map

Mackinac Island on the map, 1964 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mackinac Island. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mackinac Island on the 1964 USGS mapMackinac Island on the 1984 USGS map1964Round Island sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mackinac Island.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Island of Mackinac Scenery, No. 216. Mackinac from Fort (NBY 1700)
Retake this viewIsland of Mackinac Scenery, No. 216. Mackinac from Fort (NBY 1700), 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mackinac Island’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

10 historic places in Mackinac Island

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
10
National Historic Landmark
1
Grand Hotel
historic buildings protected
29
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Fort Mackinac
Fort Mackinac, built 1875Mission ChurchMission House, built 1825Robert Stuart HouseMathew Geary House, built 1846Indian Dormitory, built 2010Round Island Lighthouse, built 1895Lawrence Andrew Young Cottage, built 1901Round Island Passage Light, built 1947Grand Hotel★
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
Arts and Crafts1
★ Landmark
Grand HotelVictorian
Fort MackinacBuilt 1875
Mission ChurchBuilding
Mission HouseBuilt 1825
Robert Stuart HouseBuilding
Mathew Geary HouseBuilt 1846
Indian DormitoryBuilt 2010
Round Island LighthouseBuilt 1895
All 10 listings
Lawrence Andrew Young CottageBuilding · listed 1997Round Island Passage LightStructure · listed 2013

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Mackinac Island, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 942

Peaked at 942 in 1960; 583 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mackinac Island’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Mackinac Island

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Gerald F. BoganUnited States Navy admiral · b. 1894
Elizabeth Whitney WilliamsAmerican lighthousekeeper · b. 1844
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Bois Blanc TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSt. Ignace Township1 historic placeC+

Questions about Mackinac Island’s history

What year was Mackinac Island founded?

In 1671, according to Wikidata. Mackinac Island’s post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1880 counted 720 people here.

What is on the National Register in Mackinac Island?

10 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Grand Hotel (a National Historic Landmark since 1989), 1 historic district, the Fort Mackinac, with 14 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 29 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.