Sault Ste. Marie in Chippewa County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
John Johnston House
Photographed by J.T. Lambrou, January 3, 2023
1. John Johnston House Marker
A native of Ireland and a Protestant, John Johnston (1762-1828) arrived on the Lake Superior frontier in the early 1790s. He married the daughter of a powerful Chippewa chief and settled here in 1793. Johnston's knowledge of the Chippewa and the Great Lakes region made him a central figure in the development of this frontier. His original house was a hospitable meeting place for explorers, surveyors, trappers, traders and Indians. Loyal to the British, Johnston aided them in taking the American fort on Mackinac Island in 1812. In retaliation, American troops burned Johnston's house in 1815. He soon rebuilt it. This surviving portion erected about 1822, in part to house his daughter Jane and her husband Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, is a reminder of Johnston's pivotal role in the area's transition from British to American control.
Erected 1977 by Michigan History Division, Department of State. (Marker Number HB34.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Immigration • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Settlements & Settlers • War of 1812. In addition, it is included in the Michigan Historical Commission series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1793.
Location. 46° 29.948′
this page online
Regionally, this marker is on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is also in the American Midwest, on the Great Lakes, and on Lake Superiors South Shore Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Great North Woods, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France and also the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: John Johnson Family (a few steps from this marker); Elmwood (within shouting distance of this marker); Our Street Names, Our History (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fort Chevalier DeRepentigny (about 600 feet away); The King's Grant (about 600 feet away); First Mission Church (about 600 feet away); St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral (about 600 feet away); Fort Brady (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sault Ste. Marie.
Also see . . . John Johnston House. Excerpt:
The John Johnston House is a rectangular, 1+1⁄2-story house, constructed of cedar logs and covered with clapboards. Two gabled dormers are in the roof. The first floor contains five rooms and a central hall.(Submitted on January 4, 2023, by J.T. Lambrou of New Boston, Michigan.)
An early description of the house, written before the destruction of the 1815 section of the Johnston house, said:
The house was one of the finest in the North at the time it was built. Someone has described it as a long, low, well-built log house in a beautiful old-fashioned garden, where roses, lilacs, sweet williams, bachelor buttons, marigolds, and other flowers grewluxuriantly. When Johnston lived there, the great sideboard in the dining room was lipped with many pieces of solid silver brought from his ancestral home in Ireland; while the portraits, massive-framed, upon the walls, and the many foreign articles about the rooms, aroused great wonder and admiration..Photographed by J.T. Lambrou, January 3, 20232. John Johnston House MarkerIt is the marker to the left. Elmwood is on the right.
Photographed by J.T. Lambrou, January 3, 2023
3. John Johnston House
Photographed by John Garman, August 23, 2024
4. John Johnston House and Marker
This view looking east on East Waters Street also shows a boulder on which a tablet has been mounted commemorating the house as the second oldest in the northwest (at the time (1795-96), see "Nearby Markers" for more information.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 7, 2024. It was originally submitted on January 4, 2023, by J.T. Lambrou of New Boston, Michigan. This page has been viewed 554 times since then and 57 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 4, 2023, by J.T. Lambrou of New Boston, Michigan. 4. submitted on September 2, 2024, by John Garman of Rochester Hills. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
