{"id":283697,"date":"2025-06-09T13:34:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T13:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/how-americas-forgotten-second-national-park-lost-its-federal-status-and-gained-a-new-lease-on-life-as-a-state-park\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T13:34:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T13:34:40","slug":"how-americas-forgotten-second-national-park-lost-its-federal-status-and-gained-a-new-lease-on-life-as-a-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=283697","title":{"rendered":"How America’s Forgotten Second National Park Lost Its Federal Status\u2014and Gained a New Lease on Life as a State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Much of Mackinac Island was designated as a national park in 1875, but it proved to be too expensive for the government to maintain, so it was transferred to the State of Michigan in 1895<\/h2>\n
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Sarah Kuta<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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Visitors pose atop Arch Rock, a geological formation on Mackinac Island.
\n Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span>
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It\u2019s a mild Friday afternoon on Mackinac Island<\/a>, a small, tree-covered landmass in Lake Huron, between Michigan\u2019s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. As a horse-drawn carriage clip-clops by, a family spreads a picnic blanket at Marquette Park, the lush lawn at the foot of Fort Mackinac<\/a>. The historic military outpost is home to the oldest surviving building in all of Michigan, the Officers\u2019 Stone Quarters, which was erected in 1780 to house high-ranking British military leaders during the American Revolution.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still standing because, a century and a half ago, the United States\u2019 leaders decided to set aside much of Mackinac Island for the \u201cbenefit and enjoyment of the people.\u201d In 1875, three years after designating Yellowstone<\/a> as the world\u2019s first national park, President Ulysses S. Grant established the second: Mackinac National Park.<\/p>\n

The island\u2019s stint as home to a national park<\/a> was brief\u2014just 20 years in the late 19th century\u2014and has largely been forgotten. Today, Mackinac is best known for its abundant fudge shops and car-free<\/a> streets. Around 84 percent of the island is protected as a state park. But the effects of its often-overlooked national park period are still evident, as vacationers continue to marvel at geologic wonders like Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf, explore sites from the War of 1812<\/a>, and wander through buildings that are nearly as old as America itself. \u201cIt was declared a national park due to its natural beauty, but also because of the historic curiosities and its rich history,\u201d says Steve Brisson, director of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/a>, the state agency that manages the park.<\/p>\n

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Mackinac Island has been car-free since 1898.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This summer, Mackinac Island is celebrating the 150th anniversary<\/a> of its national park designation with events and activities that aim to spotlight this mostly unknown chapter in its long history. The festivities include daily informational programs, guided walks and bike tours, and an 1880s-themed Fourth of July bash. A new documentary<\/a>, A Pride of Purpose: The Story of Mackinac National Park<\/em>, will also debut this summer, and the Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum<\/a> is hosting a juried art exhibition called \u201cIconic Mackinac.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look back at Mackinac Island\u2019s history\u2014and how its two-decade stretch as the site of a national park helped shape this iconic Midwest destination today.<\/p>\n

Mackinac\u2019s earliest inhabitants<\/h2>\n

Long before the arrival of the first Europeans, the Indigenous Anishinaabe<\/a> people lived throughout the Great Lakes region, including on Mackinac Island. The area\u2019s earliest inhabitants were members of the Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi tribes, which together formed the \u201cCouncil of Three Fires<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Anishinaabe thought the island\u2019s limestone bluffs and dense forests looked like a green shell protruding from the water, so they dubbed it \u201cMichilimackinac<\/a>,\u201d or \u201cgreat turtle.\u201d The landmass is central to the Anishinaabe creation story, which tells how the world was formed on the back of a turtle. Michilimackinac was and always will be a sacred place for the Anishinaabe. For generations, it was also a seasonal hunting and fishing ground, with \u201cwhitefish the size of a man\u2019s leg,\u201d says Eric Hemenway<\/a>, director of repatriation, archives and records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.<\/p>\n

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An aerial view of Mackinac Island<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some tribes also used the island to regulate trade, since its central location in the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan gave them a strategic advantage. \u201cMy tribe, the Odawa, recognized this very early on,\u201d says Hemenway. \u201cAnybody that came through had to deal with us and had to pay \u2026 kind of like a tax. \u2018You want to do business in our backyard, what do you got?\u2019 There\u2019s going to be some type of fee or gift-giving out of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike many other tribes, which were forcibly removed<\/a> from their ancestral homelands and relocated to reservations<\/a>, the Anishinaabe never left the Great Lakes, and many tribal members still live in the region today. In 2020, roughly 13 percent of Mackinac Island\u2019s year-round residents\u201476 out of 583\u2014identified as Native American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been here for thousands of years, and we\u2019re still here,\u201d says Hemenway. \u201cWe\u2019re partners, we\u2019re neighbors, but at the same time, we\u2019re distinct sovereigns within this space we call America. And this is still a Native place.\u201d<\/p>\n

French, British and American influence<\/h2>\n

Like the Anishinaabe, early European settlers\u2014and, later, Americans\u2014recognized the importance of Mackinac Island\u2019s location for regulating travel and trade. French explorers were the first to arrive<\/a>, starting in the early 1600s. When they reached the upper Great Lakes, they found forests brimming with minks, ermines, foxes, martens, otters and beavers\u2014perfect for meeting the demand for fur back home. Soon, the booming fur trade was the main economy of New France<\/a>, with Mackinac Island serving as a summer rendezvous point for explorers and traders; Jesuit missionaries also briefly established a French mission<\/a> on the island.<\/p>\n

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Visitors stand next to cannons at Fort Mackinac.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Around 1715, the French built Fort Michilimackinac<\/a>, a fortified trading post, on the southern mainland in what is now Mackinaw City<\/a>, Michigan. (Confusingly for first-time visitors, both Mackinaw<\/a> and Mackinac<\/a> are pronounced the same way: \u201cMACK-in-awe.\u201d The former spelling is based on English phonetics, while the latter is based on French pronunciation.) However, New France collapsed after the French and Indian War, and the fort fell into British hands in 1761. But the British soon found themselves embroiled in yet another conflict: the American Revolution. Worried about Michilimackinac\u2019s vulnerability to attacks by American rebels, the British relocated the fort to the high bluffs of Mackinac Island in 1780 and shortened its name.<\/p>\n

The Americans emerged victorious in 1783, but Mackinac Island only became part of the U.S. in 1796, after the signing of Jay\u2019s Treaty<\/a>. During the War of 1812, the British successfully recaptured<\/a> Fort Mackinac and held onto it until the end of the conflict, when it passed back to the Americans.<\/p>\n

Tourism comes to Mackinac Island<\/h2>\n

The upper Great Lakes fur trade continued after the War of 1812\u2014this time, with John Jacob Astor\u2019s American Fur Company<\/a> leading the industry. However, by the 1830s, the fur trade had started to wane, and a lucrative new industry had begun to emerge: tourism. Mackinac Island was located along a major shipping route through the Great Lakes, and steamships<\/a> traveling between Detroit and Chicago often stopped there to refuel. Some of those ships had travel writers on board, says Brisson, and they began sharing<\/a> their experiences on Mackinac Island with the masses.<\/p>\n

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A horse-drawn carriage on Mackinac Island in 1887<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As far as Brisson knows, there was no concerted effort to bring tourism to the island. But, he adds, Mackinac happened to have everything wealthy Victorians<\/a> were looking for in a summer vacation destination: clean air, cool breezes, romantic paths through the woods, bluffs overlooking glistening waters. \u201cAfter the Civil War, tourism really takes off,\u201d says Brisson. \u201cMackinac comes into its own as a major summer resort of the Upper Midwest. It\u2019s on the map as a place of wonderful natural beauty and historic charm.\u201d<\/p>\n

As tourists started pouring in, however, some onlookers began to worry about overdevelopment. One of those concerned individuals was Michigan Senator Thomas W. Ferry<\/a>, who\u2019d been born on the island in 1827. After Yellowstone was established as the first national park in 1872, Ferry began to push for Mackinac Island to become the second<\/a>. He proposed turning roughly half of the island\u2014land the federal government already owned because of Fort Mackinac\u2014into a national park. \u201cHe feared that all this land on Mackinac Island is going to fall into private hands, it\u2019s going to be locked up and not available to the public, and everything charming and beautiful about Mackinac is going to disappear,\u201d says Brisson.<\/p>\n

Ferry faced some opposition to his proposal. Texas Senator Morgan C. Hamilton<\/a> disagreed with the entire premise of national parks, wondering why the government would set aside land for conservation and recreation while at the same time encouraging<\/a> Americans to occupy the nation\u2019s vast Western territory, according to Keith R. Widder\u2019s book Mackinac National Park, 1875-1895<\/em><\/a>. He didn\u2019t want to see any federal funds used for national parks, either. That was an easy critique for Ferry to address: The federal government would not need to buy any additional land, and the U.S. Army troops stationed at Fort Mackinac could manage the new national park. President Grant signed the bill<\/a> into law on March 3, 1875, officially establishing America\u2019s second national park.<\/p>\n

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Michigan Senator Thomas W. Ferry<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A postcard of Sugar Loaf Rock on Mackinac Island<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Navigating the new world of national parks<\/h2>\n

The National Park Service<\/a> did not yet exist\u2014and would not be established until 1916<\/a>. Instead, the War Department was assigned to care for the new Mackinac National Park, with the commanding officer at Fort Mackinac, Major Alfred L. Hough, designated as the park\u2019s first superintendent.<\/p>\n

The fort\u2019s leaders were \u201ckind of left scratching their heads, especially the commandant, because this [was] not in his wheelhouse,\u201d says Brisson. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know what they were going to do. They were just kind of feeling their way forward. There was no model to follow. But they took their job seriously. They were told to preserve this park for the people. And that really drove them from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hough worked with leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to draft a set of rules and regulations for the new park. These included things like a ban<\/a> on the \u201csale of wines and malt or spirituous liquors\u201d inside the park, as well as a prohibition on \u201cracing or riding and driving at great speed.\u201d Parkgoers could not commit obscene or indecent acts, nor could they turn out their livestock to graze, with a few exceptions. Perhaps most importantly, the rules stipulated that visitors could not damage the \u201ctrees, shrubs, turf, natural curiosities, or any of the buildings, fences, bridges or other structures within the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Women bicycling on Mackinac Island<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Enforcing the rules, however, proved challenging. Tourists stripped the bark off birch trees, broke off pieces of Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf to take home as souvenirs, chopped down trees, and let their cattle run wild. \u201cThese animals were a true menace,\u201d writes Widder in Mackinac National Park<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThey trampled vegetation and blocked roadways. Furthermore, their droppings attracted flies and generated noxious odors, which fouled the otherwise refreshing Mackinac air. Yet the park superintendent \u2026 could never control these beasts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also complicating matters was the question of jurisdiction. Since civilians were the ones violating the park\u2019s rules, what power did the Army have over them? \u201cThey would simply have to note that these are the rules of the park, if they found a violator, then contact the civilian authorities and hope that the county sheriff would enforce the rules,\u201d says Brisson. \u201cLegally, they didn\u2019t have the authority to do anything against a civilian. They could only punish military personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, the park\u2019s superintendents were also hamstrung by a lack of money. When Congress created Mackinac National Park, it did not allocate any funding for maintenance. And though the War Department sent a second company of soldiers to Fort Mackinac in 1876, it refused to authorize \u201cextra duty\u201d assignments for them to work in the park, which would have meant paying them an additional 20 cents per day, per Widder\u2019s book. They could only work in the park over the course of their normal duties, which were already mostly filled with military training exercises and other related activities. As a result, Hough and other park superintendents were constantly frustrated by their inability to protect the park\u2019s features from vandals and thieves. \u201cThe commandant couldn\u2019t really utilize the full labor force,\u201d says Brisson.<\/p>\n

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Mackinac Island boasts charming cottages and historical hotels.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To help fund the park, Congress did authorize the sale of government land on neighboring Bois Blanc Island<\/a>. In 1887, the Interior Department sold 500 acres for roughly $2,000 (nearly $70,000 today), which then-superintendent Captain Greenleaf A. Goodale<\/a> used to build a nearly two-mile stretch of road that had been started by his predecessor, Captain Leslie Smith. The route, which Goodale named Leslie Avenue in Smith\u2019s honor, quickly became \u201cthe most attractive and popular drive on the island,\u201d he wrote in his 1889 annual report.<\/p>\n

Congress also allowed the superintendent to lease parcels of land on Mackinac Island for the construction of summer cottages. The lessees were wealthy individuals from places like Detroit and Chicago who wanted to build homes on the 300-foot bluffs overlooking the water and were willing to pay $15 to $25 per year in rental fees for the privilege. With this modest cash flow, the park\u2019s superintendents built and improved roads and trails, constructed a 20-foot observation tower, added handrails and stairways to popular walking paths, and made other improvements.<\/p>\n

Visiting Mackinac National Park<\/h2>\n

As Fort Mackinac\u2019s leaders did their best to maintain the national park, tourists continued to visit in droves. Many arrived aboard elegant steamships, but the number of guests increased once regional railroads<\/a> built tracks north to Mackinaw City in the early 1880s. Ferries met the trains to whisk vacationers across the water to the island. Travelers came from all over the eastern U.S., with historic hotel registers showing they hailed from places like Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Buffalo, per Widder\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

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View of Mackinac Harbor in the early 1900s<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Wealthy tourists flocked to Mackinac Island in the late 19th century.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once they arrived, visitors had their choice of several hotels and boarding houses. The most luxurious was the Grand Hotel<\/a>, which debuted in 1887 and remains open to this day. The majestic hotel was built in just 93 days on a bluff overlooking the Straits of Mackinac, with an elongated front porch\u2014still the longest in the world, according to the hotel\u2014for soaking up the views and basking in the cool breezes. Most guests stayed at the hotel for the entire summer season, enjoying amenities like fine dining, gala balls, concerts, golf and tennis.<\/p>\n

The Grand Hotel catered to the upper crust of American society\u2014mainly, the descendants of successful 19th-century industrialists who were eager to flaunt their generational wealth. \u201cWe weren\u2019t built for the robber barons. We were built for their children,\u201d says Bob Tagatz<\/a>, the hotel\u2019s resident historian. \u201cThese were very wealthy people who liked very fancy things. They were the leisure class, and they wanted out of the hot, dirty, filthy, stifling, industrial cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of where they stayed, visitors could also fill their time by taking carriage rides and scenic cruises around the island. They rode bikes, took long walks, played baseball, and participated in sailing and rowing lessons. Visitors also had ample opportunities to shop, with merchants selling everything from tobacco and candy to jewelry and guidebooks. But, every year, as summer began to fade into fall, travelers packed up and went back home to their daily lives.<\/p>\n\n

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An aerial view of the Grand Hotel today<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Grand Hotel<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From national park to state park<\/h2>\n

In 1894, the War Department determined it could no longer afford to staff Fort Mackinac, which it estimated cost between $40,000 and $50,000 a year to maintain and provided no practical military service, according to Widder\u2019s book. This decision left the future of Mackinac National Park in peril. \u201cOn October 9, 1894, soldiers from Fort Mackinac marched down to waiting boats, leaving only Lieutenant Woodbridge Geary and a squad of 11 men to guard the fort and park,\u201d writes David A. Armour<\/a> in Preservation at Mackinac: A History of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, 1895-2020<\/em><\/a>. \u201cWithout the troops,\u201d Armour adds, \u201cwho would care for the national park?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then-Secretary of War Daniel S. Lamont wanted to sell the government\u2019s land on Mackinac. But islanders and cottage owners opposed that idea and immediately sprang into action, appealing to anyone and everyone who would listen\u2014including James McMillan<\/a>, a successful businessman and U.S. senator from Michigan. McMillan visited the War Department and discussed transferring the national park to the State of Michigan, for the creation of a state park. The War Department was amenable, so McMillan set the plan in motion, garnering support from his fellow federal lawmakers, as well as state legislators back home. In March 1895, Congress passed a bill<\/a> that officially handed off the national park to Michigan\u2014with one stipulation: If the state ever stopped using the land as a park, it would transfer back to the federal government.<\/p>\n

Michigan leaders created a commission to oversee the new Mackinac Island State Park, which was the first state park in Michigan and one of the first in the nation, says Brisson. The commission\u2019s first president was, fittingly, Ferry, the now-retired senator who had advocated for the national park designation two decades earlier. Ferry attended two meetings before his death in 1896, per Armour\u2019s book. The commission picked up where the Army had left off, working toward the same goal of preserving and protecting the park for the people\u2019s enjoyment. In the early 20th century, that included buying up private land to increase the size of the state park.<\/p>\n\n

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The Heritage of Mackinac<\/p>\n

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