Marquette Park

Marquette Park on Mackinac Island occupies a prominent harborfront stretch below Fort Mackinac, linking the shoreline to the bluff above. Originally reserved for the fort built in 1780–1781, the lower plateau served through the 1800s as a military vegetable garden that helped supplement army rations. After the U.S. Army left Fort Mackinac in 1895, the new state park transformed the former garden into a public landscape and dedicated it in 1909 to Father Jacques Marquette, connecting the site to the island’s French missionary past. A major lilac planting and a replica chapel added in 1964 further shaped the park, which today frames fort views and marks mile 0 of M-185.

Mackinac Island, Michigan · United States