The current location of Mackinac Bay Trading Co. The Dixie has live entertainment on weekends year round, and Karaoke during the week. Sitting in the center of the downtown Mackinaw City shopping district, the Dixie Saloon has become the heart of Mackinaw City's night life offering a menu of Mackinaw's best steaks, ribs, and burgers as well as the largest bar in Mackinaw City. The Dixie Saloon is a must see attraction located at the corner of Huron and Central in Mackinaw City, right across from Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry Docks. Those stopping by can enjoy the beauty that the Straits of Mackinac and the Mackinac Bridge have to offer year round through the many windows that encircle the saloon. Large cedar columns rise from floor to ceiling and the second level offers additional seating and a top-side view of the level below. The new all cedar structure is two stories tall, with an inviting open-air interior that spans both stories. Today the Dixie Saloon continues that tradition of good times and good hospitality inside the newly renovated building. Travelers started the tradition of celebrating a journey's end with good friends and good drink within the walls of the Dixie Saloon, then known as the Dixie Tavern. The Old Dixie Highway ran the complete length of the United States Eastern coastline, stretching from Florida all the way up to Mackinaw City, eventually being replaced by Interstate 75. Since the near end of the 1800's, the Dixie Saloon has stood as a landmark of the end of the Old Dixie Highway. All admission and store sale proceeds are used in the ongoing restoration. A wide variety of lighthouse and maritime books and keepsakes are available for purchase. Costumed interpreters provide regular tours, including guiding groups up the lighthouse tower.Īccess to the historic site is through the station's 1907 Fog Signal building which serves as the admissions point and contains the Lighthouse Museum Store. The lighthouse contains the restored keeper's quarters and hands-on exhibits throughout the fully-accessible first floor. Continuing restoration of the light station to its 1910 appearance includes the exteriors and interiors of the buildings as well as the grounds. The lighthouse is currently open to the public. The lighthouse is located within Michilimackinac State Park, just a few hundred feet east of the Mackinac Bridge and the Colonial Michilimackinac Visitors Center. Mackinaw City Attractions Old Mackinac Point Lighthouseįounded in 1889, Old Mackinac Point Light Station was in operation from 1890 until 1957. This was installed to allow wind forces to move through the bridge. The inner lane on the middle span of the bridge includes an open grid riding surface. The last step was to construct the road surface. More than 42,000 miles of wire were used in the two main bridge cables! To complete the job and add extra strength, a covering is spun around each finished cable. Each cable consists of 340 wires banded into a single strand 37 strands are then assembled into a single cable. When finished, the cables were close to 25 inches in diameter. Ignace, Mich., during this construction period.Ī "catwalk" made of cyclone fence enabled the workers to navigate between the bridge towers, high above the lake below. When the foundation pillars were finished, the iron workers were brought in to string the massive cabling network! More than 500 workers were housed in St. The caissons had to be sunk down into the bedrock on the lake floor, a great challenge for the divers involved. These cylinders are called caissons (cay-sans). The first step was to sink the large, double-walled cylinders that form the bases of the two main tower piers. The total cost of the project was upwards of $100 million (originally estimated at $70 million).Ĭonstruction began in 1954 and during the 42 months that followed hundreds of men worked on the various phases of the bridge construction. The construction period: 1954-1957īecause the bridge was in a remote area, financing the project was slow and difficult. Today, the Mackinac Bridge is hailed as one of the most outstanding engineering achievements of the century and leaves people wondering how Michigan ever got along without it! The 100 millionth crossing of the bridge happened on June 25, 1998. Steinman and primary construction firms were Merrit-Chapman & Scott and the American Bridge Division of U.S. Mennen (Soapie) Williams was another strong advocate for the bridge and helped to create the Mackinac Bridge Authority in 1950. Brown, Sr., the "Father of the Mackinac Bridge," was the key figure in the bridge construction project. Although the bridge was envisioned way back in the late 1800s, Sen.
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