Visiting Mackinac: 150 Years of Tourism at Michigan's Fabled Straits

John and Audrey Cumming Lecture: 

Dr. Frank Boles, former director, Clarke Historical Library (retired) 

Visiting Mackinac: 150 Years of Tourism at Michigan's Fabled Straits 

The Straits of Mackinac have been a tourist destination for more than 150 years. This presentation will tell the story of how tourism developed on Mackinac Island and in the adjacent communities of St. Ignace and Mackinaw City. Although contemporary tourist literature portrays the Straits as an area destined to become an important tourist site, the real story is far more complex. How tourism at the Straits of Mackinac developed, and how visitors experience the Straits area today, have little to do with fate. Rather, it is much more the result t of the choices made by many people. Join us to learn about those choices, and the people who made them. 

All in-person events will be held in the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium, Park Library.
A reception in the Clarke follows in-person events.