Editing Mackinac Bridge (section)

===Early history===
[[File:'Vacationland', newest and largest car ferry added to Straits of Mackinaw fleet.jpg|thumb|''[[Vacationland (ferry)|Vacationland]]'', the largest and last [[Michigan State Highway Department]] [[Roll-on/roll-off|automobile ferry]] put in service prior to the completion of the Mackinac Bridge]]

The [[Algonquian peoples]] who lived in the straits area prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century called this region ''[[Michilimackinac]]'', which is widely understood to mean ''Place of the Great Turtle.''<ref>{{cite web |title = History: Mackinac Island |date = May 15, 2023 |url = https://www.mackinacisland.org/blog/countdown-to-2020-a-look-at-mackinac-history-through-the-centuries/ |access-date = February 9, 2024 |publisher = Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau |language = en-US }}</ref> This is thought to refer to the shape of what is now called [[Mackinac Island]]. This interpretation of the word is debated by scholars. Trading posts at the Straits of Mackinac attracted peak populations during the summer trading season; they also developed as intertribal meeting places.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.michilimackinac.com/ |title = Mackinaw, Mackinac Straits, Mackinac Island |website = Michilimackinac |access-date = November 2, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130925185840/https://www.michilimackinac.com/ |archive-date = September 25, 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

As usage of the state's [[mineral]] and [[timber]] resources increased during the 19th century, the area became an important [[transport hub]]. In 1881 the three railroads that reached the Straits, the [[Michigan Central Railroad|Michigan Central]], [[Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad|Grand Rapids & Indiana]], and the [[Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad|Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette]], jointly established the [[Mackinac Transportation Company]] to operate a [[Train ferry|railroad car ferry]] service across the straits and connect the two peninsulas.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11154_11188-26923--,00.html |title = I-75 / Straits of Mackinac |website = Michigan's Historic Bridges |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = November 2, 2013 }}</ref>

Improved [[highway]]s along the eastern shores of the [[Lower Peninsula]] brought increased automobile traffic to the Straits region starting in the 1910s. The state of Michigan initiated an automobile ferry service between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace in 1923; it eventually operated nine ferry boats that would carry as many as 9,000 vehicles per day. Traffic backups could stretch as long as {{convert|16|mi|km}}.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/mackinac-bridge |title = Mackinac Bridge |author = American Society of Civil Engineers |publisher = American Society of Civil Engineers |access-date = January 29, 2022 }}</ref>