Traveling between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas is something we take for granted today thanks to the Mackinac Bridge. You likely can't imagine the wait that drivers were once forced to endure to travel between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace.

The Michigan Department of Transpiration shared this photo recently showing cars stacked up and backed up waiting to travel across the Straits of Mackinac. From the 1920s through the '50s, the Department of Highways operated the Michigan State Ferry service between the peninsulas. The longest waits annually occurred in November during hunting season.

MDOT Pic of the Day: This is what it used to look like in Mackinaw City before the #MackinacBridge was built. #ProgressIsGood

Posted by Michigan Department of Transportation on Wednesday, February 17, 2016

 

These videos from the early 1950s give another glimpse of what travel was once like before the Mighty Mac.

Part 1
Part 2

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