Mackinac State Historic Parks

Purpose: Sustaining Cultural Heritage In keeping with its long-range plan, Mackinac State Historic Parks (MSHP) will replace a 35-year-old exhibit at the 1928 Fort Mackinac Post Hospital. The new exhibit will use a variety of display techniques to share the medical history of Fort Mackinac with 4.5 million visitors over the next 20 years. Visitor studies indicate a desire to learn more about mid-nineteenth-century medicine; this exhibit, "Military Medicine at Mackinac," responds to that desire. MSHP hopes to significantly increase the amount of time visitors spend in the building and communicate the following information: (1) the army provided medical treatment for soldiers and the community; (2) a series of buildings, including the 1828 building, served as post hospital; (3) Fort Mackinac was a generally healthy outpost, but disease and injury did affect the garrison; (4) certain diseases were common at the time; (5) physicians were making great strides in diagnosis and treatment in the mid-nineteenth century; (6) several Fort Mackinac physicians went on to become well known and to play important roles in preventive medicine; and (7) the post hospital is the oldest standing hospital structure in Michigan and an important site for learning about early Michigan medical history.