Survey of Entire Island Would Take Years
By Leslie Rott

Despite Mackinac Island being only eight square miles, a complete survey of the Island has not been done in many years, if at all. Because 80 percent of the Island is owned by the State of Michigan, both the City of Mackinac Island and Mackinac Island State Park use their own surveys.

Unable to give a specific cost for surveying the entire Island, surveyor Delmer Porter said a project of this scope would take between five and 10 years.

"Somebody should have done it a long time ago," he said. "It would be a very interesting project, but quite a difficult job."

Because such a survey has the potential of changing property lines, he said, "this is not a popular thing to do."

Mr. Porter is a surveyor for Porter's Survey, a company the City of Mackinac Island has used for land surveys in the past. The benefits of surveying the entire island at once, he said, is that it will cost less than surveying only disputed areas as they crop up, which is what most municipalities do.

One of the most difficult aspects of surveying the Island, Mr. Porter said, is traveling to the Island. Because of the expense of staying on the Island, most survey work is done during the day and the survey company leaves the Island at night.

When the Island is busy, horse and pedestrian traffic also makes surveying difficult. A lack of meaningful property descriptions also makes surveying difficult and often forces surveyors to rely on testimony of established Islanders, which may be outdated or incorrect.

Dennis Dombroski, the city's zoning administrator, said that it is the responsibility of property owners to have private land surveyed. The City surveys its own land and also private land when there are possible encroachments.

He said the city has no plans to undertake a full survey of the Island.

The first known land survey was a brief one in 1810, said Phil Porter, director of Mackinac State Historic Parks. In the 1820s, the first comprehensive survey was completed by John Mullet, and it identified many private land claims.

Surveys have also been made by the federal government.

The Mackinac Island State Park Commission began surveying its land in the late 1890s and has since been trying to properly document its land.

Like the city, the State Park usually surveys its own land when a boundary uncertainty arises.