Blue Morpho

Native to tropical rainforests

Wingspan 5”-8”

The undersides of the wings are muted brown along with some gray, red, and black.

Males are more brightly colored than females.

All Morpho butterflies have “eyespot” markings on the undersides of their wings.

Sainte Anne’s Church

Jesuit Missionaries traveled to the Straits of Mackinac in the 1670s.

The original Ste. Anne’s was built at Fort Michilimackinac (present day Mackinaw City) in the mid-1700s.

During the American Revolution, the British dismantled the church and moved it across the ice to Mackinac Island.

In the 1820s, the church was given land by Magdelaine Laframboise and in the 1880s the current building was constructed.

Mural

Located on the ceiling of Ste. Anne’s.

Painted during renovations in the 1990s.

Ste. Anne (traditionally believed to be Mary’s mother/Jesus’ maternal grandmother)

Mary

Baby Jesus

Grand Hotel

1886: A group of railroad companies purchased land and began construction

1887: Opens as a summer destination for wealthy vacationers looking to escape summer in cities such as Chicago and Detroit

1947: This Time for Keeps is filmed, starring Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante.

1980: Somewhere in Time is released. The movie, starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, was filmed on location.

World’s Largest Front Porch: 660’

Uniquely decorated guest rooms: 388

Cairn

Gaelic term meaning “stack of stones”

Historically built as geographical or burial markers

Biblically, stones were also stacked as memorials to what God had done. Joshua 4:2-9:

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, `What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day. (ESV)

Beach along Lake Huron

Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake.

The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

Lake Huron was named by French explorers for the Huron people who lived in the region. “Lac de Hurons”

The turquoise color comes from the reflection onto the white rocks of the shallows. Mackinac Island does not have sandy beaches.

Marquette Park and Fort Mackinac

Marquette Park is named for French Jesuit missionary and explorer Jacques Marquette.

Father Marquette explored Mackinac Island in the early 1670s.

During the American Revolution, the British moved their fort and fur trade post to Mackinac Island.

In 1895, the fort was closed and Mackinac National Park was transferred to the state of Michigan.

Anne’s Tablet

She used to whisper to them to tell them how much she loved them “her old friends.”

She loved the island and the island trees; she loved the wild larches…the tall spires of the spruces bossed with lighter green…the gray pines and the rings of the juniper.

Hear the rustling and the laughing of the forest and the wash of the waters on the pebbly beach.

In Memoriam

Constance Fenimore Woolson

Author—Traveller

Has expressed her love of this island and its beauty

In the words of her heroine “Anne”

View from the ridge near Anne’s Tablet

The city of Mackinac Island encompasses roughly twenty percent of Mackinac Island. The rest is part of the state park.

According to the 2020 Census, the resident population was 470.

Until the mid-1800s, Mackinac Island was the center of the North American Fur Trade.

A ban on motor vehicles has been in effect since 1898 (with the exception of emergency and service vehicles).

The island’s K-12 school serves around 60 students.