Mission Church (Michigan)
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Mission Church
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Front of the church in 2011
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| Location | Huron St. at Truscott St., Mackinac Island, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 45°51′0″N 84°36′32″W / 45.85000°N 84.60889°WCoordinates: 45°51′0″N 84°36′32″W / 45.85000°N 84.60889°W |
| Built | 1829 |
| Built by | Martin Heydenburk |
| Architectural style | Colonial, New England Colonial |
| NRHP reference # | 71000409 |
| Added to NRHP | January 25, 1971 |
The Mission Church was a historic Congregational church located at the corner of Huron and Tuscott Streets on Mackinac Island, Michigan, United States. Built in 1829, it was the oldest surviving church in the state of Michigan. In 1971, the Mission Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sainte Anne Church (Mackinac Island) was built before this, as the island had a historic French and Metis population before Anglo-American settlement. Its original building was replaced by a new structure in 1874, which was still used.
The Mission Church was constructed in the New England Colonial church style. It was a 1-1/2 story rectangular frame building sitting atop a plastered stone foundation and covered with clapboard siding. The base construction was of heavy timber, and the interior was plastered. The front facade had a double-door center entrance, and boasts a square tower topped with an octagonal belfry. The roof was covered with wooden shingles.
French Jesuits established a mission to the Ottawa in this area in the 17th century. Their church did not have a permanent priest after suppression of the Jesuits in Canada in the late 18th century; the log structure was moved from Fort Michilimackinac to Mackinac Island about 1780-1781 by British orders. This Sainte Anne Church was used by the French and Metis residents who were the majority of the permanent population through the early 1800s, most connected to the fur trade. The church did not have a permanent priest for some years, but devoted parishioners kept the congregation active. Magdelaine Laframboise, a prominent Métis fur trader, donated land next to her mansion for the church when it needed a new site. In 1874, a new Sainte Anne Church was built there which is still in use.
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