Top Mackinaw City Arts & Design

Colonial Michilimackinac is a National Historic Landmark, and is home to North America's longest ongoing archaeological dig. Costumed interpreters portraying British soldiers, merchants, voyageurs, Native Americans, and other tradespeople are on site daily, providing demonstrations, tours, and programs. Colonial Michilimackinac also offers unparalleled views of the Straits of Mackinac, Mackinac Bridge, and Mackinac Island. During the summer months, weather permitting, archaeologists are on site, digging through the layers of soil, pulling out bits of history in front of you.

Historic Downtown Mackinac is a collection of historic sites located throughout downtown Mackinac Island, presenting history from pre-European contact into the 1950s. This self-guided museum experience includes The Biddle House, featuring the Mackinac Island Native American Museum, explores the history of the Anishnaabek people of Mackinac Island through the lens of Agatha Biddle, an Odawa woman who lived in the house in the 1830s. The Benjamin Blacksmith Shop is a working blacksmith shop set in the 1950s, toward the end of the shop's life. The Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum displays works inspired by Mackinac Island, including a juried exhibition. The American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum was the site of a famous accident that altered the course of medical history, while the McGulpin House is a rare example of French Canadian architecture, and possibly the oldest residence still standing on Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island's West Bluff is one of the Midwest's finest collections of Victorian architecture, built by industrialists escaping the heat and grime of post-Civil War cities. On this self-guided walking tour, you'll trace the stories behind eleven of these grand cottages, from the lumber barons and meat-packers who built them to the governors and immigrants who shaped their legacy. The tour starts at the Walter C. Newberry Cottage, the first home past the Grand Hotel. You'll walk along the bluff, passing Queen Anne turrets, wraparound verandas, and shingle-style facades, while hearing how wealthy families competed for leases on this National Park land starting at just $25 a year. Along the way, you'll discover how business partnerships, family dynasties, and architectural rivalries played out side by side on this single stretch of shoreline.