Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island, Mich.)

Luxury summer resort hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

From the description of Grand Hotel records, 1855-2006 (bulk 1946-2006). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 85778837

From the description of Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan, visual materials series. ca. 1855-2004 (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 85778914

Grand Hotel opened on July 10, 1887 as a venture of the Mackinac Island Hotel Company. In 1910, the hotel was purchased by Henry Weaver, its manager since 1900. The hotel was sold again in 1918, this time to J. Logan Ballard, who died only five years later. In 1925, William Stewart Woodfill purchased the hotel with two other men, to whom he later sold his shares. In 1933, Woodfill would purchase the hotel again, this time as sole owner, after it fell into receivership. Woodfill, who also managed the hotel for a number of years, retained ownership throughout the mid-20th century, though he gradually turned responsibility for the hotel's management over to Dan Musser beginning in 1951. The Musser family purchased the hotel from Woodfill in 1979, and continue to run it today.

Since its opening, Grand Hotel has become a popular family vacation destination and conference location with its upscale accommodations and dining facilities. Features of the hotel include an elaborate, multi-course dinner included for every guest, 18 holes of golf, a 660-foot front porch overlooking the water, and a pool that Esther Williams made famous in the movie This Time For Keeps in 1946.

Information for this History was taken from Grand Hotel: The biography of an American institution by John McCabe. This book, published by the hotel on the occasion of its centennial season, is available in box 1 of the papers, and includes images of historical documents owned by the hotel and other repositories that are not included in this collection.

From the guide to the Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island, Mich.) records, ca. 1855-2011, 1946-2011, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)