Once upon a time there was a pet bear that lived on Mackinac Island. Cubbie rode around in a bicycle basket, walked around on two paws and sat by the counter at the soda fountain.
If you don’t believe it, you’ll just have to visit Mackinac Island’s Stuart House City Museum. The museum is housed in an old American Fur Co. building at 7342 Market St. and features several exhibits highlighting the fascinating history of Mackinac Island, including the years Cubbie spent as a resident. There’s even a photograph of the bear with actress Esther Williams, who was on Mackinac Island in 1946 to film the movie “This Time for Keeps.”
The Stuart House City Museum is open daily during the visitor season with admission by donation, making it one of the lower-priced activities on Mackinac Island.
Here’s a look at some of what you can see inside the impressive two-story museum building that originally was a center of activity in the Great Lakes fur trade of the early 1800s:
The main exhibit in the Stuart House City Museum highlights the fur trade as well as Mackinac Island’s vibrant commercial fishing industry in the 19th century. The house was built in 1817 as the home of the resident agent of the American Fur Co. and became the social center of the island as the fur trade boomed over the following two decades.
As the fur trade eventually waned, boats used to transport furs were adapted into fishing boats and Mackinac Island thrived as a commercial fishery.
Mackinac Island fishing on the Great Lakes
The Stuart House City Museum has an antique doll room with artifacts including old cribs as well as photographs of Mackinac Island residents when they were babies. About 500 people live on Mackinac Island year round, and some residents have even lived their entire lives on the island.
What it’s like to live on Mackinac Island year round
A highlight of the Stuart House City Museum are tiny replicas of Mackinac Island buildings and landmarks made by Dale Gensman, who also wrote a book about Cubbie the bear. There’s a replica of the Mackinac Bridge, for example, and one of the Titanic, which is tied to Mackinac Island in that American Fur Co. founder John Jacob Astor’s great-grandson, John Jacob Astor IV, perished when the ship sank.
Bridge to Mackinac Island? How it almost got built
The Stuart House City Museum also features exhibits on Native American culture and world-famous Mackinac Island fudge as well as a military room honoring veterans. Unlike many other historical attractions on Mackinac Island including Fort Mackinac, the Biddle House Mackinac Island Native American Museum and the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum – all of which are part of Mackinac State Historic Parks – the Stuart House is a city-owned institution.
The museum building originally was part of a four-building American Fur Co. complex that also included a clerk’s quarters, warehouse and a trading post that has been re-created by Mackinac State Historic Parks at nearby 7232 Market St.
As Mackinac Island bloomed into a popular vacation destination, the Stuart House became a boardinghouse and then the fancy John Jacob Astor House hotel before it later was turned into the city museum.
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