Life Was Different Before We Had The Mackinac Bridge!

It was November 1, 1957, that our beloved Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic. What a blessing it was by boosting tourist traffic in the Upper Peninsula, helping economic development and making driving high above the blue waters of the Straits is so exciting.

 👇 BELOW: SEE THE BUILDING OF THE MACKINAC BRIDGE! 👇

But, how did people cross the straits before the bridge? Believe me, it could be a grind.

The New York Public Library on Unsplash

The website Mackinaw City.net said for 34-years it was a bit tough for travelers between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. They had to cross the Straits via an hour-long ferry ride. Weekends were even tougher, especially the start of hunting season or the Fourth of July. You had better get there early and bring some food and something to drink because you might wait in line in your car for as long as 24 hours to catch a ferry. Ouch!

If you forgot food you didn't have to fret because back then vendors would go car-to-car selling hot pasties.

Harry Grout on Unsplash

The bridge was actually thought of in the 1800s, but it wasn't until the early 1950s that things finally got moving. Governor-elect G. Mennen (Soapie) Williams was a huge advocate and helped create the Mackinac Bridge Authority in 1950. It took a few more years but bridge designer Dr. David B. Steinman was put to work to create the bridge we see today.

Rudolph Arnstein on Unsplash

Between 1954 and 1957 crews built the magnificent structure costing $100 million dollars. By the way, in today's dollars the bridge would cost $1,252,565,055.76! That's $1.2 billion and change folks!

The "Mighty Mac" rises 552 feet (that's 55 stories!) above the Straits of Mackinac, where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet, and this engineering marvel is 5 miles long anchor block to anchor block.

Amazing!