- Straits of Mackinac
Location map
Michigan
label =The Straits of Mackinac
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lon_deg = 84
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caption = Located between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas
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width =200The Straits of Mackinac (pronEng|ˈmækɨnɔː, like MACK-in-aw, note the silent "c") is the strip of water that connects two of the Great Lakes,
Lake Michigan andLake Huron , and separates theLower Peninsula of Michigan from theUpper Peninsula of Michigan . It is a shipping lane connecting, for instance, thesteel mills ofGary, Indiana to the iron mines ofMinnesota . Before the railroads reached Chicago from the east, it served as part of the path for immigrants into theMidwest andGreat Plains . It is five miles (8 km) wide at its narrowest point where it is spanned by theMackinac Bridge . Before the bridge was built, car ferries were used to cross the straits. Today passenger-only ferries carry people toMackinac Island which does not permit cars, while passengers can take a vehicle ferry to Bois Blanc Island. Beforeicebreaker s and year-round shipping on the Lower Great Lakes, the Straits would freeze over in winter.Island s in the Straits of Mackinac include the two populated islands, Bois Blanc Island andMackinac Island , and the two uninhabited islands, Round Island and St. Helena Island. At 11 miles (18 kilometers) in length, Bois Blanc is by far the largest island in the Straits.Geology and history
The Straits were an important Native American and
fur trade route. Located on the southern side of the Straits is the town ofMackinaw City, Michigan , the site ofFort Michilimackinac , a reconstructed French fort founded in1715 , and on the northern side isSt. Ignace, Michigan , site of a French Catholic mission to the Indians, founded in1671 . The eastern end of the Straits was controlled byFort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, a British colonial and early American military base and fur trade center, founded in1781 .traits of Mackinac today
The Straits are patrolled by a detachment of the
United States Coast Guard based at Graham Point, St. Ignace. A shipping channel through the winter ice is maintained by the Coast Guard's Great Lakesicebreaker , USCGC "Mackinaw", based inCheboygan, Michigan near the eastern edge of the Straits. This new vessel went into service during the 2005-06 ice season.Most of the Straits have been set aside by the
U.S. state ofMichigan as theStraits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve , a riparian public space dedicated to those personnel who were lost aboard the boats and ships that sank in these dangerous shipping lanes.Lighthouse s in the Straits of Mackinac include:
*TheMcGulpin Point Light , on McGulpin Point, convert|3|mi|km west of Fort Michilimackinac.
*TheOld Mackinac Point Light , in Mackinaw City, Michigan, which is open to the public.
*The Round Island Light on Round Island, which is not open to the public but which can be viewed from the Mackinac Island ferry channel.
*TheSt. Helena Island Lighthouse , which is not open to the public but is visible from a rest area onU.S. Highway 2 at Gros Cap, Michigan west of St. Ignace, Michigan.
*The Bois Blanc Island Light, which is not open to the public, on the northern shore of Bois Blanc.ee also
*
Huron Lightship External links
* [http://scubachicago.com/mack/default.htm Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck]
* [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/macstraits.html Lighthouses in the Mackinac Strait]
* [http://mightymac.org/lights.htm Lighthouses of the Straits of Mackinac]
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