M-185 circles the perimeter of the park as the only motorless highway in the state due to the island's ban of automobiles.

Mackinac Island played an important role in the War of 1812 between the United States and Canada (then a British colony).

The two nations used their island forts in a struggle to maintain supremacy over the waters of northern Lake Huron.

When the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent in 1815, the island was returned to American control.

[4] A grassroots lobbying campaign led in September 1895 for the U.S. government to turn over the park and fort to the State of Michigan.

[5] The agency is governed by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, a seven-member body.

With the military not wanting to fund the park, being non-military, and the National Park Service not formed until 1916, the department approved a revenue plan by a captain at the fort in which choice parcels would be leased to resorters to build summer cottages which started in 1885.