Mackinac Island's Fort Holmes-- Part 1: Originally Built by the British

From Mackinac Parks site.

I started writing about this fort on June 10, 2016.

Fort Holmes sits atop the highest elevation on the island and was recently reconstructed and free and open to the public during normal operating hours from May to October.  It is a small wooden and earthen fortification.

When the U.S. reoccupied Mackinac Island after the War of 1812, the name was changed from Fort George (the British built the fort and named it in honor of Britain's King George III) to Fort Holmes in honor of Major Andrew Hunter Holmes who was killed in the 1814 Battle of Mackinac Island.

After the war, the fort was also the site of at least two different viewing towers.

In 1936, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) used the original 1817 blueprints to rebuilt the fort, but it later fell into disrepair.

--Brock-Perry