The Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad Company was established in 1879 to connect the Straits of Mackinac by rail with the iron mining region of Marquette County, Michigan. Through acts of 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, and 1879, the state legislature had granted over 1,300,000 acres of state swamp lands to support the building of the railroad. The railroad was completed in 1881, but the line was not profitable, and the company was bankrupt by 1886. At that time, the land owned by the company was separated from the railroad. The railroad was consolidated into the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad, while the land was held by a firm continuing the name Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad Company. The company continued in business under this name, as a land company, not a railroad, until 1913, when it was succeeded by the Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Land Company. The land company remained in business until at least the early 1950s.
From the guide to the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Land Company records, 1879-1919, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
