Inscription
Nicolet passed through the straits in 1634 seeking a route to the Orient. Soon it became a crossroads where Indian, missionary, trapper, and soldier met. From the 1600s through the War of 1812 first Frenchman and Englishman, then Briton and American fought to control this strategic waterway. In 1679 the Griffon was the first sailing vessel to ply these waters.
The railroad reached the straits in 1882. Until the Mackinac Bridge was opened in 1957, ferries linked the north and south.
Location
Sources
More markers in Mackinac
Island House
Mackinac Island, MI
Constructed for Charles O’Malley about 1852, this building was one of the first summer hotels on Mackinac Island.
Home of the Ancestors
Mackinac Island, MI
Mackinac Island has long been a burial location for the Anishnaabek (Odawa, Ojibway and Potawatomi).
Lake View Hotel
Mackinac Island, MI
Originally known as the Lake View House, this is one of the oldest continuously operated hotels on Mackinac Island.
The Northernmost Point of Lake Michigan
Naubinway, MI
The northernmost point of Lake Michigan is about one mile west of here.
St. Ignace
St. Ignace, MI
Pere Marquette established in 1671 the Mission of St. Ignace.
