Mackinac Island in Mackinac County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The 1780 British Water Well

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 11, 2025

1. The 1780 British Water Well Marker

Inscription.
British soldiers dug this well in 1781 during the American Revolution while building the fort. This back-breaking job required soldiers to chisel through more than 150 feet of limestone rock to reach water. This extraordinary effort gave the soldiers a source of water within the fort’s protective walls.

In the 1820s American soldiers filled in the well. A new well was dug outside the north sally port. Soldiers also hauled water up from the bay in a horse-drawn water wagon. In the 1880s, water was pumped from a spring below the fort into a large reservoir in the north blockhouse. A gravity-fed pipe system carried the water from the blockhouse to several fort buildings.

Archeologists rediscovered this well in 1980. They unearthed the casing stones beneath you and uncovered thousands of artifacts, including military buttons used by soldiers who dug the well more than 200 years ago.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • War, US Revolutionary. A significant historical year for this entry is 1781.

Location. 45° 51.121′ N, 84° 37.005′ W. Marker is on Mackinac Island, Michigan, in Mackinac County. It can be reached from Huron Road, on the left when traveling west. Marker is located inside Fort Mackinac. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mackinac Island MI 49757, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

and on the Straits of Mackinac.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

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.

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Defenses of Fort Mackinac: The British Fort, 1779-1796 (within shouting distance of this marker); The Defenses of Fort Mackinac: The American Fort, 1796 - 1895 (within shouting distance of this marker); Dr. William Beaumont (within shouting distance of this marker); Flags at Fort Mackinac (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Marquette (about 300 feet away); Somewhere in Time Gazebo (about 400 feet away); Historic Fort Mackinac (about 400 feet away); The Fort Garden (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mackinac Island.

More about this marker. Photos on the right side of the marker depict “Archeologists excavating the British water well.” A British Private from the 8th or King’s Regiment of Foot, 1780 appears on the marker’s left.

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 11, 2025

2. The 1780 British Water Well Marker

Marker inside Fort Mackinac image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 11, 2025

3. Marker inside Fort Mackinac

Fort Mackinac image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 11, 2025

4. Fort Mackinac

Marker is located inside Fort Mackinac.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 21, 2025, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 114 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 21, 2025, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.