Editing Mackinaw City, Michigan (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of Northern Michigan}}

=== Etymology and early settlement ===
The name of Mackinaw is a respelling of "Mackinac", a strait between [[Lake Huron]] and [[Lake Michigan]], an island in the strait, and an important trading-post on the island; ultimately from [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] '''mishinii-makinaang''' (“at the place of many snapping turtles”).<ref>Wiktionary, ''Mackinaw'', https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mackinaw</ref>

The predominant historic tribes in this area were three [[Algonquian peoples]], known collectively as the [[Council of Three Fires]]: [[Ojibwe]] (Chippewa), Ottawa ([[Odawa people|Odawa]]), and [[Potawatomi]] at the time of French contact in the 17th century. These peoples had long frequented the surrounding region, which they called [[Michilimackinac]], to fish, hunt, trade, and worship. [[Mackinac Island]] in the straits appeared to have the shape of a [[turtle]]. The [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] here had a creation myth based on the sacred turtle. The Straits of Mackinac was the center of two routes vital to the [[fur trade]]: one to [[Montreal]] in the east, by way of [[Lake Nipissing]] and the [[Ottawa River]] valley; and the other to [[Detroit]] in the south via Lakes [[Lake Huron|Huron]] and [[Lake St. Clair (North America)|St. Clair]].

===European exploration and Fort Michilimackinac===
The first European to pass the site of Mackinaw City was [[Jean Nicolet]], sent out from [[Quebec City]] by [[Samuel Champlain]] in 1633 to explore and map the western [[Great Lakes]], and to establish new contacts and trading partnerships with the Indian tribes of the region.<ref>Fischer, David Hackett. ''Champlain's Dream'' (2008) p.503</ref> His reports resulted in the French government providing funds to send settlers, missionaries, traders, and soldiers to the Great Lakes region. [[Catholic Priest|Father]] [[Jacques Marquette]] had established a mission on Mackinac Island in 1671 (which was shortly thereafter moved to [[St. Ignace, Michigan|St. Ignace]] on the Michigan peninsula, where it remained active until 1705). The construction of Fort de Buade at St. Ignace in 1681 was an attempt by the authorities of [[New France]] to establish a military presence at the Straits, but it closed in 1697.<ref>Walter Romig, ''Michigan Place Names'', p. 204</ref>

Mackinaw City's first European settlement came in 1715 when the French built [[Fort Michilimackinac]]. They lost it to the British during the Seven Years' War, and the British abandoned the fort in 1783, after the [[American Revolutionary War]] resulted in independence of its Thirteen Colonies. The site of the fort in present-day Mackinaw City is a [[National Historic Landmark]] and is now preserved as an open-air historical museum. As with the forts at other settlements of the era and region such as Detroit, Michilimackinac was a fairly small post. It housed French civilians inside the fort, and allowed them to garden, hunt, and fish outside the walls. It was a trading post for the fur trade.

At the end of the [[French and Indian War]] (1754–1763), the [[United Kingdom|British]] took possession of the fort, but continued to allow the [[French people|French]] civilians to live within the walls, as they had good relations with the Odawa and Ojibwe for the fur trade. As a part of [[Pontiac's Rebellion]], [[Chippewa]] and [[Meskwaki]] warriors captured the fort on June 2, 1763, in a surprise attack during a game of ''baggatiway'' or [[lacrosse]]; the British at the fort were taken prisoner and mostly killed.

Europeans, in the form of French and Scots-Irish traders from Detroit and elsewhere, did not return until the following spring, with the understanding that they would trade more fairly with the Native Americans. The British abandoned the vulnerable site on the mainland during the [[American Revolutionary War]]; from 1779 to 1781, the troops moved the fort, including its buildings, to Mackinac Island, where they established [[Fort Mackinac]]. What the British did not take with them, they burned; that way they could prevent the American rebels from using Michilimackinac as a base.

===Mackinaw City from mid-19th century to present===
[[File:Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse 4572.jpg|thumb|right|Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse]]
[[File:McGulpin Point Light (July 2018).jpg|thumb|right|McGulpin Point Light]]
In 1857, two men by the names of Conkling and Searles planned what would become Mackinaw City. The original plan reserved the northern portion as a park, to preserve the area that was once Fort Michilimackinac and to accommodate a hoped-for [[lighthouse]]. This was not built for nearly a generation after the land was set aside.

During the second half of the 1800s, the Mackinaw area (and [[northern Michigan]] in general) saw an increase in summer resort tourism. In 1875, [[Mackinac National Park]] became the second National Park in the United States after [[Yellowstone National Park]] in the [[Rocky Mountains]].

[[Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse]] began operation in 1889 and the adjacent Fog Signal Building was built in 1906. This lighthouse, which operated until 1957, would eventually replace McGulpin Point Light, which operated between 1869 and 1906, at its location in the far western end of the village limits, with the current address of 500 Headlands Road.<ref>{{Cite web |date = January 10, 2022 |title = Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse |url = https://www.michigan.org/property/old-mackinac-point-lighthouse |access-date = November 5, 2022 |website = Pure Michigan |language = en }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title = McGulpin Point Lighthouse |url = https://www.emmetcounty.org/parks-recreation/mcgulpin-point-lighthouse/ |access-date = November 5, 2022 |website = Emmet County |language = en }}</ref>

The village became a vital port for [[train ferry|train ferries]] crossing the Straits beginning in the 1890s, and later, for ferries for [[automobiles]]. In the 1890s, Mackinaw had one newspaper, the ''Mackinaw Witness'', published weekly by Presbyterian missionary Rev. [[George Warren Wood|G. W. Wood, Jr.]]<ref>{{Cite book |last = Rowell |first = George |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vWQ3AQAAMAAJ&q=%22G+W+Wood%22+%22Sunday+School%22+michigan&pg=PA377 |title = Rowell's American Newspaper Directory |date = 1893 |publisher = Geo P. Rowell & Company |location = New York |page = 377 |quote = "Mackinaw City, Cheboygan County"... "WITNESS: Saturdays; four pages 16x22; subscription $1.50; established 1892; Rev. G. W. Wood, editor and publisher." |access-date = May 31, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last = Donaldson |first = W. H. |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JPkyAQAAMAAJ&q=%22G.+W.+Wood%22+editor&pg=PA167 |title = The Donaldson, Guide: Containing a List of All Opera-houses in the United States and Canada |date = 1894 |publisher = Donaldson |location = Cincinnati, OH |page = 167 |quote = "Newspaper – Witness, Rev. G.w. Wood, editor" |access-date = May 31, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last = Clark |first = C.F. |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5AcdAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Mackinaw+Witness%22+George+warren+wood&pg=PA1138 |title = Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1897 (Volume 13) |date = 1897 |publisher = R.L Polk & Co. |location = Detroit |page = 1138 |quote = "[Mackinaw] has a weekly newspaper, The Mackinaw Witness" ... "George H. Wood, publr... Wood, Rev George W (Presbyterian) |access-date = May 10, 2016 }}</ref>

Auto ferries began running in the early 1900s. [[Camping]] began in [[Michilimackinac State Park]] in 1907.

When the Mackinac Bridge was completed in 1957, the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse was decommissioned immediately thereafter. At the same time, a grant was provided to the [[Mackinac Island State Park Commission]], which owned the property at the Bridge's southern terminus, to begin archeological excavations of the Michilimackinac ruins. Ultimately, a reconstruction of the fort to its 1770s appearance would be constructed.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Mackinac State Historic Parks |url = http://www.mackinacparks.com/ |website = mackinacparks.com }}</ref>

Auto ferries, which had been running since the early 1900s, ended in 1957 after the completion of the [[Mackinac Bridge]].

Train ferries crossed the Straits until 1984. Mackinaw City remains an important port city for tourists traveling by passenger [[ferry boat]] to Mackinac Island using Shepler's ferry company, and Star Line services.

Through the course of time, the main industry of Mackinaw City became almost strictly tourist-oriented, with other major sources of employment being civic services such as mail, police, firefighting, schooling, and so on. [[Camping]], which began in Michilimackinac State Park in 1907, was halted in 1971 as a Maritime Park was opened in 1972 around the lighthouse. This park was shut down in 1990, but Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse was opened to the public in 2004. [[Historic Mill Creek State Park|Mill Creek State Park]], which includes the area believed to be where Mill Creek's [[sawmill]] once flourished when [[Mackinac Island]] was being settled, is located about five miles (8&nbsp;km) southeast of the village along [[U.S. Route 23 in Michigan|U.S. Highway 23]] (US&nbsp;23).