Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th century French, and later British, fort and trading post located along the southern shore of the strategic Straits of Mackinac connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, at the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan. Built around 1715, it was abandoned in 1783. The site of the fort in present-day Mackinaw City is a National Historic Landmark and is now preserved as an open-air historical museum. Photo by Kathy Weiser-Alexander.