French House Ruin

French House Ruin. A peacetime economic boom required more housing , In the peace following the French and Indian War, the fur trade boomed. The arriving British, coming as victors of the war, increased the population inside the fort walls to about 200 residents. The entrepreneurial French inhabitants rented their homes to the British and moved outside, building a suburb of about 100 new homes., French residents built suburbs south of the fort , In this driveway archaeologists found a portion of a traditional French house, a style constructed with vertical posts planted in the ground. It was erected sometime after 1765. This location probably marks the southernmost extent of the suburbs. This, no doubt, was home to a French fur-trader and it probably survived until 1781 when Fort Michilimackinac and most of the village houses were moved to Mackinac Island., Captions: , (left) This is a typical French style building. The gaps between the log walls are caulked. The roof is bark and ends in a typical rafter extension producing an overhang. The interior of the house would have been simple but functional. , (right) This is a map adapted from the 1765 Plan of Michilimackinac at the Clements Library. Houses are shown strung out to the south of the fort.