Mill Creek

After Patrick Sinclair moved Fort Michilimackinac from the mainland to Mackinac Island in 1780, he recognized the need for a sawmill to supply lumber for the new fort and adjoining community buildings. He granted private claim 334, consisting of 640 acres south of Fort Michilimackinac, to Robert Campbell, whose property included a small stream that provided enough water to power a mill for several minutes each day during the spring and early summer. Over the years, lumber from Campbell's mill was used to build many structures on Mackinac Island, including Mission Church. After Campbell died in 1808, his heirs eventually sold the property to Michael Dousman for one thousand dollars. Dousman continued supplying the garrison with lumber and expanded the operation to provide beef, flour, barrels, and hay. The exact date of the mill's abandonment is unknown, but local history places it around 1839. In 1972, three avocational archaeologists from Cheboygan, Ellis Olsen, Mary Olsen, and Margaret Lentini, are credited with rediscovering the site, and excavations beginning in 1973 confirmed it as the frontier mill of Robert Campbell and Michael Dousman. Mackinac State Historic Parks acquired the site in 1975 and opened it to the public as a historical park in 1984, where visitors enjoy a museum, nature trails, and demonstrations of the reconstructed dam and sawmill.

Mackinaw City, Michigan · United States