Scout Barracks. In 1929, Park Commissioner Roger Andrews invited eight Eagle Scouts, including future President Gerald Ford, to serve as the “Governor’s Honor Guard” and tour guides at Fort Mackinac. Scouts raised and lowered the colors daily and fired the sunset gun. They stayed in the Fort Commissary until moving into these barracks, built in 1934. The building was constructed by the Mackinac Island Civilian Conservation Corps unit, many of whom were World War I veterans. In 1938, the program began to include Boy Scouts at all levels. Additions to the barracks were completed in 1961 and in 1975. They followed the style of the original building. At the urging of Michigan First Lady Helen Milliken, Girl Scouts joined the scout service program in 1975.,
Parade Ground. In the nineteenth century, this area served as a parade ground for soldiers stationed at Fort Mackinac. Here, soldiers practiced marching, the manual of arms, bayonet skills and other military drills. By 1843, the parade ground was formally developed and fenced. In the 1870s, several buildings were erected on the edge of the parade ground, including horse stables and housing for non-commissioned officers. The parade ground also served as home field for the Fort Mackinac Baseball Club. Founded in 1885, the club played games against other teams from Northern Michigan. In 1887, the team built a grandstand with seating for 500 spectators. An admission to a baseball game cost twenty-five cents, and grandstand seats cost an extra ten cents.
Scout Barracks
In 1929, Park Commissioner Roger Andrews invited eight Eagle Scouts, including future President Gerald Ford, to serve as the “Governor’s Honor Guard” and tour guides at Fort Mackinac. Scouts raised and lowered the colors daily and fired the sunset gun. They stayed in the Fort Commissary until moving into these barracks, built in 1934. The building was constructed by the Mackinac Island Civilian Conservation Corps unit, many of whom were World War I veterans. In 1938, the program began to include Boy Scouts at all levels. Additions to the barracks were completed in 1961 and in 1975. They followed the style of the original building. At the urging of Michigan First Lady Helen Milliken, Girl Scouts joined the scout service program in 1975.
Parade Ground
In the nineteenth century, this area served as a parade ground for soldiers stationed at Fort Mackinac. Here, soldiers practiced marching, the manual of arms, bayonet skills and other military drills. By 1843, the parade ground was formally developed and fenced. In the 1870s, several buildings were erected on the edge of the parade ground, including horse stables and housing for non-commissioned officers. The parade ground also served as home field for the Fort Mackinac Baseball Club. Founded in 1885,
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the club played games against other teams from Northern Michigan. In 1887, the team built a grandstand with seating for 500 spectators. An admission to a baseball game cost twenty-five cents, and grandstand seats cost an extra ten cents.
Erected 2015 by Michigan Historical Commission, Michigan Historical Center. (Marker Number L2266.)
Location. 45° 51.195′ N, 84° 37.014′ W. Marker is on Mackinac Island, Michigan, in Mackinac County. Marker is on Huron Road, 0.2 miles east of Fort Street, on the left when traveling east. Marker located at entrance to Parade Ground and Scout Barracks. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6998 Huron Road, Mackinac Island MI 49757, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Historic Fort Mackinac (within shouting distance of this marker); Greany Grove (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Somewhere in Time Gazebo
The rear parade ground north of Fort Mackinac is a distinctive Mackinac Island landscape, an integral part of the operation of Fort Mackinac for both military use and, beginning in 1885, as a baseball field. After the closing of the fort in 1895 the Mackinac Island State Park Commission maintained this historic landscape, including the baseball field. The barracks for the Mackinac Island Scout Service Camp was built here in 1934.
(Submitted on August 16, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
The only U.S. president who was an Eagle Scout was Gerald R. Ford, who joined the Boy Scouts in 1924 in Grand Rapids. Life-size statues of Ford as a 16-year-old Eagle Scout stand at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and the DeVos Family Center for Scouting in Grand Rapids.
(Submitted on December 24, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 30, 2017
4. Parade Ground Marker
(looking north from Huron Road • parade ground in background)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 30, 2017
5. Boy Scouts marching towards barracks
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 30, 2017
6. Boy Scouts gathering at Scout Barracks
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 30, 2017
7. Scout Barracks Sign (a few steps from marker)
Credits. This page was last revised on December 25, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 16, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 509 times since then and 34 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on August 16, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 4. submitted on December 24, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 5, 6, 7. submitted on August 16, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.