Early Automobiles on Mackinac Island
Mackinac State Historic Parks
The Historic Automobile Ban
Afraid that the new-fangled sputtering motor cars would scare their horses, Mackinac
Island carriage tour drivers turned to the village leaders for support. On July 6, 1898
the Mackinac Island Village Council banned "horseless carriages" from its
streets.
"Resolved: That the running of horseless carriages be prohibited within the
limits of the village of Mackinac." — Mackinac Island Village Council, July 6, 1898
 Summer cottager Earl C. Anthony ignored the automobile ban and brought his
Locomobile to Mackinac Island in 1900. While driving in Mackinac Island State Park, he
frightened and hurt several horses and wrecked some carriages. In response to this
accident, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission outlawed automobiles in the park in
1901. Today travel on Mackinac Island is by foot, horse and carriage or bicycle.
One Hundred Years Later
 On July 6, 1998 a turn-of-the-century automobile
made a rare appearance on historic Mackinac Island to commemorate the anniversary of that
automobile ban. Glenn Miller of Dearborn, Michigan drove his 1901 Geneva steam-powered car
on Mackinac Island's Market Street. Miller's car is similar to the steam-powered
Locomobile—believed to be the first car on Mackinac Island. Miller towed his vintage car
in a trailer up I-75 on July 5, loaded it in a freight boat headed for Mackinac Island on
July 6, then drove it in town for the festivities. The car arrived and departed by freight
boat near British Landing on the northwest side of the island. After being driven from
Mackinac Island's City Hall to Marquette Park where it was displayed, it was towed off the
island by the Mackinac State Historic Parks' horse-drawn dray. Not since the filming of Somewhere
In Time in 1979 had passenger cars been driven on Mackinac Island.
The 1901 Geneva Automobile
 The 1901 Geneva steam-powered automobile was
manufactured by the Geneva Automobile & Manufacturing Company, Geneva, Ohio. The
two-passenger car is 7½ feet long, 5 feet wide and 5½ feet high, and weighs
approximately 800 pounds. It has a black wood body with red line trim, red wire wheels,
and a brown leather seat. It has a 6-horsepower engine. A copper water tank at the rear
comes forward on two sides of the boiler that holds 6 gallons of water when charged for
working.
Cars Converge on Mackinaw City in 1924
Although cars are not welcome on Mackinac Island, they bring visitors to the Mackinaw
City area. 1924 marks the first year in which great numbers of cars converged on
Michilimackinac State Park, known today as the reconstructed 1770s fort and fur-trading
village Colonial Michilimackinac, a National Historic
Landmark. That year 65
different makes of automobiles were parked at the Straits of Mackinac campground. Among
the cars parked there in 1924 were: 689 Fords, 211 Chevrolets, 206 Dodges, 187 Buicks, 93
Studebakers, 84 Overlands, 50 Reos, 45 Hupps, 44 Nashes, 43 Willys Knights, and 40
Oldsmobiles. Cars came from as far away as Florida, Oregon, Arizona and California. But
with Mackinac Island's ban on automobiles, those cars never came to the island—only their
passengers were welcome.
Photos and Text: Courtesy of Mackinac
State Historic Parks. Copyright © 1998 and 1999 Mackinac Island State Park
Commission. |
