MACKINAC – Driving to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wasn’t always easy.
This 1920s era photo shows passengers of the car ferry between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsula, walking north toward St. Ignace after the ferry was stuck in the ice.
Before the Mackinac Bridge, Straits travel depended on ferries—first run largely by the railroads.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Mackinac Transportation Company (a railroad ferry service) provided year-round railcar—and later some auto—crossings between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. But rates, capacity limits, and weather/ice headaches fueled pressure for a better highway connection.
In 1923, Michigan stepped in and launched a state-run auto ferry service, which quickly became the essential link for motorists as traffic climbed. Over the next few decades, demand kept growing while delays and winter vulnerability remained part of the reality—strengthening the case for a permanent fixed crossing.
Eventually, the state built the Mackinac Bridge, and when it opened to traffic on Nov, 1, 1957, the long-running car ferry service between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace ended.
— Photos courtesy of the Detroit Historical Society (Dossin Great Lakes Museum) and Mark Constance
