Mackinac Island (Mich.)

Mackinac Island ( MAK-ə-naw, locally MAK-ə-nə) is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 583 in the 2020 census. The city was established as an important fur trading center in the eighteenth century, and in its early period, had a predominately French-speaking population of French Canadians and Métis. After the War of 1812, the US restricted participation of non-citizens in the fur industry, and the city attracted more Anglo-American residents. 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 as well as 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 are 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 began to be a summer destination for tourists. When the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here, the city made an exception to the law, allowing the production company to use motorized vehicles on the island.