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Historic Mill Creek State Park is a state park, nature preserve, and historic site in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is run by Mackinac State Historic Parks, the operating arm of the Mackinac Island State Park. 625 acres (2.5 km²) in size, the park is located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Mackinaw City, Michigan on U.S. Highway 23.
History
The original sawmill at Mill Creek operated from about 1780 until 1839. It was originally built to generate cut timbers for Fort Mackinac (1780-81) and the related frontier settlement of Mackinac Island. The Mill Creek sawmill enjoyed a dominant market share of the supply of cut timbers in the Straits of Mackinac during the fur trade era, and a Millwright's House was built about 1820 near the sawmill to provide a place for the mill operator to live. As global demand for beaver fur declined in the 1830s, the sawmill and Millwright's House were abandoned.
After the sawmill's abandonment in 1839, the original buildings rotted and disappeared. However, timbers cut by the original mill survived in buildings on Mackinac Island, and saw marks on these timbers could be used to reconstruct the mill machinery so as to closely resemble the original.
Mill Creek today
Mackinac State Historic Parks has built the following resources and amenities at Historic Mill Creek:
The creek dam and sawmill (c. 1780) were rebuilt in 1984.
The Millwright's House (c. 1820) was rebuilt in 2005.
Bald Mountain |
Bay City |
Brighton |
Fort Custer |
Highland |
Holly |
Ionia |
Island Lake |
Lake Hudson |
Metamora-Hadley |
Ortonville |
Pinckney |
Pontiac Lake |
Proud Lake |
Rifle River |
Waterloo |
Wetzel |
Yankee Springs
Agate Falls Scenic Site |
Bond Falls Scenic Site |
Father Marquette National Memorial |
Laughing Whitefish Falls Scenic Site |
Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center |
Sturgeon Point Scenic Site |
Wagner Falls Scenic Site
