Mackinaw City's Heritage Village lets visitors explore life in the Straits of Mackinac as it was years ago. Focusing on the era of 1880-1917, Heritage Village looks just as it would during these Northern Michigan decades--buildings, lawns, outhouses, costumes, history, and stories.

The Mackinaw City Historical Society manages the 43-acre Heritage Village and continues to add new buildings and exhibits. The Heritage Village is just west of downtown Mackinaw City.

Heritage Village includes:

•An 1880's one-room school house from the nearby community of Freedom
•The Mackinaw City pest (pestilence) house from the same era as the school house
•The turn-of-the-century sawmill that cut the logs for the locks at Sault Ste. Marie
•A tar paper work shack
•A vintage base ball field where games are still played
•An artifacts building filled with pieces of history
•A community garden
•A community pavilion
•Modern outhouses

An 1897 church from nearby Brutus was moved to Heritage Village and is being restored as are a machine shed, and a replication of a prominent family's farm, the Stimpson Homestead.

School children from around Michigan come to Heritage Village in the spring and fall to learn about the history of the area. Volunteers and docents offer half and full day educational programs.

On the first Saturday of August each year, the Mackinaw Area Historic Festival takes place at Heritage Village with vintage 1880's base ball, live raptors, children’s games, Native-American displays, and more--including great food!

To learn more about the history of the Mackinaw City area and the Straits of Mackinac, visit:

Colonial Michilimackinac

Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse

McGulpin Point Lighthouse

Mackinaw City Historical Pathway