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Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park

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Historic Mill Creek State Park
Map
LocationMichigan, USA
Nearest cityMackinaw City, Michigan
Area625 acres (2.5 km²)
Governing bodyMichigan Department of Natural Resources

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 1790 until 1839. It was originally built tosupply lumber to the area. In 1793 it was contracted with Fort Mackinac to make repairs on the soliders barracks, and was also used to build the 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, following the mill's owner, Mr. Dousman's death.

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. The marks gave the people the information as to the rake of the teeth, and that the blade was fed in at about 1/2 of an inch per stroke. Allowing one cut to be made every 5-7 inches.

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.
  • As of 2006 there were 3.5 miles of nature trails.

An admission fee is charged.


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