Editing Mackinac Bridge (section)

===Plans for the bridge===
[[File:Traffic at opening of Mackinac Bridge, November 1, 1957.jpg|thumb|Bridge's opening on November 1, 1957]]
After the opening of the [[Brooklyn Bridge]] in 1883, local residents began to imagine that such a structure could span the straits. In 1884, a store owner in [[St. Ignace, Michigan|St. Ignace]] published a newspaper advertisement that included a reprint of an artist's conception of the Brooklyn Bridge with the caption "Proposed bridge across the Straits of Mackinac".<ref name="michigan1">{{cite web |url = https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9618_11016-25527--,00.html |title = History |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = November 2, 2013 }}</ref>

The idea of the bridge was discussed in the Michigan Legislature as early as the 1880s. At the time, the Straits of Mackinac area was becoming a popular tourist destination, especially following the creation of [[Mackinac National Park]] on Mackinac Island in 1875.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Widder |first = Keith |year = 1975 |title = Mackinac National Park 1875-1895 |journal = Reports in Mackinac History and Archaeology |number = 4 |publisher = Mackinac Island State Park Commission |url = https://npshistory.com/publications/mha-rpt-4.pdf |access-date = December 11, 2023 |archive-date = October 19, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221019214524/http://npshistory.com/publications/mha-rpt-4.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref>

At a July 1888 meeting of the board of directors of the [[Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island)|Grand Hotel]] on Mackinac Island, [[Cornelius Vanderbilt II]] proposed that a bridge be built across the straits, of a design similar to the one then under construction across the [[Firth of Forth]] in [[Scotland]]. This would advance commerce in the region and help lengthen the resort season of the hotel.<ref name="michigan1"/>

Decades went by with no formal action. In 1920, the Michigan state highway commissioner advocated construction of a floating tunnel across the Straits. At the invitation of the state legislature, C. E. Fowler of [[New York City]] put forth a plan for a long series of causeways and bridges across the straits from [[Cheboygan, Michigan|Cheboygan]], {{convert|17|mi|km}} southeast of Mackinaw City, to St. Ignace, using [[Bois Blanc Island (Michigan)|Bois Blanc]], [[Round Island (Michigan)|Round]], and Mackinac islands as intermediate steps.<ref>{{cite web |author = Mackinac Bridge Authority |date = n.d. |title = History of the Bridge, Mackinac Bridge |url = https://www.mackinacbridge.org/history/history-of-the-bridge/ |access-date = October 19, 2022 |publisher = Mackinac Bridge Authority |language = en }}</ref>