A reconstruction of the fort is preserved as the main feature of Colonial Michilimackinac Historic State Park.

[4] The present-day village of Mackinaw City developed around the site of the fort, which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

It is preserved as an open-air historical museum, with several reconstructed wooden buildings and palisade, and is now part of the state park.

[6] By 1713, however, the French decided to re-establish a presence along the Straits of Mackinac, and built the wooden Fort Michilimackinac on the northern tip of the lower peninsula.

Chevalier Jacques Testard de Montigny, who was a Lt. and a Knight of the Order of St. Louis, was appointed in 1730 and served for three years as commandant of the fort.

On June 2, 1763, as part of the larger conflict known as Pontiac's War, a group of Ojibwe staged a game of baaga'adowe (a forerunner of modern lacrosse) outside the fort as a ruse to gain entrance.

They held the fort for a year before the British regained control, promising to offer more and better gifts to the native inhabitants of the area.