Looking Back

Compiled by Ryan Schlehuber

Two cannons from the south side platform of Fort Mackinac overlook Haldimand Bay with several cruise ships docked and in the harbor on a sunny day on Mackinac Island. (Photograph courtesy of Bob Cole)

115 Years Ago

Saturday, July 19, 1890

About 500 excursionists from Cheboygan were landed here by the steamer Soo City yesterday morning, most of whom were children belonging to the different Sunday schools of that city. They returned on the Minnie M. in the afternoon.

Mrs. General Tom Thumb’s concert company are billed to appear at the opera here on Monday next, afternoon and evening.

90 Years Ago

Saturday, July 21, 1915

Hon. Edwin O. Wood, Michigan member of the Democratic National committee, is appealing to loyal Michigan Democrats for $1 contributions for the purpose of erecting a marker on Mackinac Island in honor of General Lewis Cass. Mr. Wood’s letter to Democrats follows:

The Michigan Historical Commission and Mackinac Island State Park Commission have given names to prominent points of interest on the State Park at Mackinac Island. The names chosen relate to missionaries, explorers, and those actively identified with the early history of Michigan and the Old Northwest. One of the most sightly places, the East Bluff, or Cliff, where all of the thousands who come to the Island are sure to visit, has been named Lewis Cass Cliff in honor of General Lewis Cass, one of the greatest of Michigan statesmen

Mr. Cass was made a Brigadier-General in 1813; later he was appointed Governor of Michigan Territory. He was the superintendent of Indian Affairs, negotiating many treaties, and, later, became Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson.

The United States training ship Isle Delusion spent Wednesday and Thursday here on Mackinac Island.

Captain George Pond, of Fort McDowell, Angel Island, California, who brought the body of his wife here for burial last week, will remain for a month, the guest of his wife’s parents, Captain and Mrs. John McA. Webster.

A joint meeting of the Mackinac State Park Commission and the Michigan State Historical Commission was held last week. State Geologist R.C. Allen, of Lansing, and State Civil Engineer Morgan Wright, of Marquette, were present.

Plans were made to strengthen Arch Rock, which is thought to be in a tottering condition. It was reported that there are 203 special points of interest on the Island. Granite markers will be placed at the points not already provided with signs.

The sloop yacht Leda, owned by George Currier and Edgar Lee, wins the Mackinac Cup, 1st sloop prize, as well as time prize. She sailed under the Chicago Yacht Club colors, and reported a race all the way with the Lariken and Mavourneen, winner of the famous 1911 race.

50 Years Ago

Thursday, July 21, 1955

Five years ago, a number of ladies on Mackinac Island banded together to have a small sale during July. It was known as “Christmas in July.” Originated on a small scale, this annual event has grown steadily larger until now it has become so popular that it is looked forward to by many northern Michigan residents and summer cottagers.

Goods on display and for sale take up a large part of Community Hall, where the fair is held. Money derived from the sale helps to finance the five Island charities: Community House, Lions Club, school lunch, Health Center, and public library. An added attraction this year will be movies of the bridge construction.

Michigan state ferries were tied up by workmen Friday in protest against the commission’s failure to resume study of the desired wage increase.

Long lines of motor vehicles loaded with women and children bound to or from the Upper Peninsula vacationland; truck loads of perishable produce bound for resort areas; iced semi-trucks bearing chilled fresh fish for metropolitan Detroit, all marooned at Mackinaw City and St. Ignace during the 16 hours that the state ferries were tied up, did more to influence state ferry employees to resume operation of the Great White Fleet than did the appeasement offered by the state civil service commission.

35 Years Ago

Thursday, July 23, 1970

Dora, a $240,000 Class A sloop, from the Chicago Yacht Club, with Lynn Williams as skipper, won the annual 333-mile Chicago to Mackinac Island race with a corrected time of 34 hours, 23 minutes, and 27 seconds. By noon, 61 of the original 165 starters in the race had dropped out at various spots along the shore, most with broken masts, torn sails, or equipment failure owing to winds that gusted up to 60 miles per hour and the 10 foot waves.

Capt. Jim Brown of the Chippewa said that only about 400 persons used the Arnold Line boats Sunday going to and from Mackinac Island. He said the boats could have run if necessary, but with the rain and rough weather, there were no passengers.

15 Years Ago

Thursday, July 26, 1990

Mackinac Island’s Haunted Theatre was closed to the public by the Michigan Department of Labor Wednesday, July 18, having been deemed by the department as unsafe for occupancy. A building code inspection report, dated June 19, listed 12 construction code violations in the Haunted Theatre concerning occupant safety and noted three additional structural integrity concerns involving the roof, walls, and foundation.

The United States Coast Guard 270-foot cutter Escanaba moored at the Coast Guard station in St. Ignace last weekend during its two-day visit to the Straits area. The cutter is touring the Great Lakes in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Governor and Mrs. James J. Blanchard spent the weekend at the Governor’s Residence at Fort Mackinac.

Under light winds, Bill Martin’s 67-foot vessel, Stripes , from Ann Arbor, was the first yacht to complete the 259-nautical-mile Port Huron-to-Mackinac race, crossing the finish line at Mackinac Island at 12:01 p.m. Monday, July 23. Although Stripes has won the second place overall twice each in past Port Huron-to-Mackinac races, this was the sloop’s first time to finish first in a Mackinac race.