Founding

History of the Mackinaw Area Historical Society

Written February 1997 · By Lynn (Morand) Evans
(given at the Mackinaw Woman’s Club)

​Last year, Sandy Planisek, editor of the Mackinaw Journal and Marquee, attended a meeting of the Northern Michigan Historical Society, and decided that we should have something similar in Mackinaw City. She contacted people she thought might be interested, local historians, long-time residents, village and business leaders, and representatives of local museums. We got together and talked about and decided to hold a formal public meeting to see if there was interest. There was, and on August 21, 1996, the Mackinaw Area Historical Society was officially incorporated.

Our official Mission Statement is; to promote the knowledge and appreciation of our local heritage, to foster and encourage the collection and preservation of historical materials, and to stimulate historical study and research of the area of Mackinaw City. We have defined the Mackinaw Area as Mackinaw City and surrounding communities to the south, including Carp Lake, Bliss, Cecil Bay, Levering, & Freedom. Our primary time of period of interest is from the mid 1800’s to the present.

The starting date is the arrival of Edgar Conkling and the railroads, precursors to modern day Mackinaw City.

Michilimackinac currently handles the colonial era, which ended in 1781 when that community had relocated to Mackinac Island.

In September we elected our board, Joann Leal, Nancy Campbell, Ruth Morse, Hugh Murray, R. J. Planisek. Gordon Sheldon, Ken Teysen, Larry Young & Myself. Any of these people would be happy to answer questions or receive comments about the Society.

We meet on the second Monday of every month at 7:30 in the Mackinaw Area Public Library. Our meetings are open to the public and we invite you to attend.

We are a membership organization, and I also invite & encourage anyone who is interested to join. An individual annual membership is $10, a family annual membership is $20; Business annual membership is $50 and a lifetime membership is $100. Dues can be sent to our PO Box 999.

A good deal of our time this year has been spent in getting defined and organized. We have had some interesting programs as well. Part of our October meeting was spent sharing stories of past Halloweens in Mackinaw City. In November, Bill Barrett, a native of Mackinaw City & great-grandson of George Stimpson, its first permanent settler, shared stories, documents & pictures from his family’s past. In January, Tom Pfeiffleman, whose family has been in the Straits area since 1902, did the same. Our February program will include stories from the railroads in Mackinaw City.

One of the Society’s long-term goals is to have a museum, however this is a very long-range goal, because several factors need to be considered. It is not enough just to have space, although that is the first requirement. Environmental & security concerns need to be addressed anytime historical objects are involved. In the meantime, we are focusing on historical knowledge instead of things. The main route we are using is oral history. Oral history is historical knowledge derived from interviewing people, rather than documents or artifacts. Usually, it involves actual life experiences of the interviewee, but can also include stories passed down thru generations. An oral history can be either an autobiography dealing with Subject’s entire life, or it can be focused on a specific event, place, institution or person. Topics that are particularly relevant to the Mackinaw area include logging, the railroad, our maritime heritage (fishing, freighters, and ferries), the building of the bridge, the development of schools, churches and other cultural institutions, commercial development, and tourism. We are also interested in the impact of national and international events such as wars on our community.

Year round and summer residents, and village and township residents all will have a different perspective on these issues, and histories will be sought from all of these groups. Oral histories are a great way to begin collecting 20th century history, which covers two thirds of our current period of interest. It can also lead to other types of collecting. For example, old photographs are often used in collecting oral history, and in illustrating a transcribed copy. Objects are often referred to as well and it is always useful to know who has old things. The historical society has begun collection oral histories by taping our programs and stories shared at our meetings. Sandy Planisek has conducted many interviews with long-time residents in connection with her work with the Journal and Marquee.

The Mackinac State Parks are currently revitalizing their own history program, which largely took place on Mackinac Island in the 1920’s. The two organizations are hoping to work together on the Mackinaw City project. They have currently submitted a foundation grant application, in conjunction with the school for a joint training workshop from the Michigan Oral History Association. Representatives from each group would be trained in the techniques of oral history and in how to train others. Combining forces with the school would allow us to tap the multi-generational strength of our community by encouraging youngsters to record family’s histories. The park has also submitted a grant request for additional audio and video equipment to be used in the project.