Lilac Festival (Mackinac Island)

Mackinac Island ( MAK-ə-naw, locally MAK-ə-nə) is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 583. Established as an important fur trading center in the eighteenth century, with a predominately French-speaking population of French Canadians and Métis, after the War of 1812 the city gained more Anglo-American residents. The US put restrictions on Canadians for fur trading. From 1818 until 1882 the city served as the county seat of the former Michilimackinac County, which was later organized as Mackinac County, with St. Ignace designated as the county seat. The city includes all of Mackinac Island and also nearby Round Island which is unpopulated, federally owned and part of the Hiawatha National Forest. The state park and the national forest make up most of the city. A unique local ordinance passed in 1895 prohibits the use of any motor vehicles on the island. The only exceptions to this are city emergency vehicles (ambulance, police cars and fire trucks), city service vehicles and snowmobiles in the winter. Today the most common means of travel is either by foot, bicycle, horse or horse-drawn carriage. Roller skates and roller blades are also allowed, except in the downtown area. Mackinac Island is home to the Grand Hotel, built during the late nineteenth century when the island started to be a summer destination. When the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here, the city made an exception to allow the production company to use motorized vehicles on the island.

The Benjamin Blacksmith Shop is a blacksmithy and museum, in operation since before 1885, located adjacent to the Biddle House on Market Street on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Mackinac Island State Park. Mackinac Island is known for its local ordinances that forbid privately operated motor vehicles and encourage widespread use of horses, and this smithy displays and celebrates examples of the craft of horseshoeing.

The Biddle House is a historic house and fur trade shop space, built before 1800 on Market Street on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Mackinac Island State Park. It is a Michigan Registered Site and a contributing resource to Mackinac Island's status as a National Historic Landmark.

The Robert Stuart House, also known as the Agent's House or Agency House, is a building located at 34 Market Street on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1965.

The Matthew Geary House is a wood-framed single family home located at 7248 Market Street in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan built about 1846.

The McGulpin House is a historic house museum, located in a structure originally built before 1780 and now located at the corner of Fort Street and Market Street on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It is owned, operated, and opened to the public during the summer months by Mackinac Island State Park as part of Historic Downtown Mackinac Island.

Marquette Park is a landscaped park located on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Mackinac Island State Park and stands on the edge of Mackinac Island's harbor on the Round Island Channel and just east of downtown Mackinac Island.

Fort Mackinac ( MAK-ə-naw) is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes. The British did not relinquish the fort until thirteen years after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Fort Mackinac later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army. Closed in 1895, the fort has been adapted as a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park.

The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum is an art museum located in the historic Indian Dormitory building on Mackinac Island, Michigan. The museum's exhibits feature art inspired by Mackinac Island, including historic painting and maps, photographs from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, Native American art and beaded garments, and contemporary art and photography from area artists. The museum is one of many attractions in Mackinac Island State Park.

The Battle of Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw) was a British victory in the War of 1812. Before the war, Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It was important for its influence and control over the Native American tribes in the area, which was sometimes referred to in historical documents as "Michilimackinac". A scratch British, Canadian and Native American force had captured the island in the early days of the war. An American expedition was mounted in 1814 to recover the island. The American force advertised its presence by attempting to attack British outposts elsewhere on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, so when they eventually landed on Mackinac Island, the garrison was prepared to meet them. As the Americans advanced on the fort from the north, they were ambushed by Native Americans, and forced to re-embark with heavy casualties.

Anne's Tablet is a 1916 Art Nouveau sculptural installation by William Ordway Partridge located within Mackinac Island State Park adjacent to Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island. Consisting of stone benches and a bronze plaque, the overlook was built as a memorial to local author Constance Fenimore Woolson.

Mackinac Island School District is a public school district serving the city of Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. The school district operates one school, Mackinac Island Public School (MIPS). Mackinac Island School District includes all of Mackinac Island and the uninhabited Round Island. The district was established in 1848.