Historic Downtown Mackinac Admission

Itinerary

1. 1

   Step into the home of Agatha and Edward Biddle, merchants who moved in around 1830. This was a time of change, and the 1830s were critical to the Biddles for another reason: as an Anishnaabek woman, Agatha and other indigenous people witnessed their culture subjected to immense changes. The decade transformed the Anishnaabek, linking old ways with Michiganu2019s modern indigenous culture.nnThe continuing story of the Anishnaabek of northern Michigan is not always a happy one. It is a story of battles won and lost, promises made and broken, and cultures repressed and resurgent. Most importantly, the story in which the Biddle family played a role is one that continues today. This exhibit, created in conjunction with tribal partners, explores that story and how it still resonates on Mackinac Island and throughout northern Michigan.

   1 hour
2. 2

   Originally built in the 1880s, Robert Benjamin and later his son, Herbert, ran a blacksmith shop into the 1960s. The contents of the shop were moved to the reconstructed building in 1970. The Benjaminu2019s fixed carriage wheels and shoed horses in the early days and repaired lawnmowers and maintained yacht motors in later years.

   30 min
3. 3

   Nowhere else does such a rare and exceptional collection of Mackinac-related art and photography come together to tell Mackinacu2019s story.nnIn complement to the natural beauty of Mackinac Island, The Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum allows visitors to experience fine and decorative arts inspired by Mackinac through the ages.nnOne of the most diverse art museums in the region, the museumu2019s collection offers no shortage of beauty and history u2013 from hand-beaded Native American garments and 17th and 18th-century maps of the Great Lakes, to one-of-a-kind pieces from the height of Mackinac Islandu2019s Victorian era.nnOriginal photographs from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century present the beauty of Mackinac as captured by the camerau2019s eye. Featured are the works of William H. Gardiner, including dozens of his famed early-twentieth century hand-tinted views.

   1 hour