The Robert Stuart House, also known as the Agent's House or Agency House, is a building located at 34 Market Street on

Mackinac Island, Michigan Mackinac Island ( ) is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a permanent population of 583. The population numbers in the tens of thousands from May 1st to October 31st due to an influx o ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1971 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1965.

History

The Robert Stuart House was built in 1817 as the "Agent's House," housing the resident agent of the American Fur Company, which was at that time

Ramsay Crooks Ramsay Crooks (2 January 1787 – 6 June 1859) was an American fur trader who immigrated to Canada from Greenock, Scotland. He was the father of American Civil War Colonel William Crooks who served in the 6th Minnesota Regiment. In 1803 Ramsay w ...

. In addition the building housed other agents and clerks. The Agency House was part of a four-building complex constructed to house the American Fur Company's offices. The other three buildings were a clerk's quarters (now demolished), a warehouse built in 1810 (now the Community Hall), and a trading post (subsequently altered, but later restored). Also in 1817, Robert Stuart arrived on the island as Crooks's assistant. Upon his arrival, Stuart was housed as a guest in the Agent's House. In 1820, Crooks moved on and Stuart was appointed to succeed him as resident agent, a position he held for the next 14 years. Because of Stuart's national prominence and his lengthy association with the Agent's House, the building is nominally referred to as the Robert Stuart House. The 1820s and 1830s were boom years for the American Fur Company's operation on Mackinac Island; in 1822 more than three million dollars of furs were cleared through the Mackinac Island operation. Given his prominence, it was natural that Robert Stuart's house served as the social center of the island during this time. However, the fur trade began to decline in the 1830s, and in 1835 Stuart moved on to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. As the fur trade declined, Mackinac Island became a resort community. The Robert Stuart House was used as a boardinghouse in the years before and during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1871, the entire American Fur Company complex was purchased by James F. Cable and the three main buildings - the Agent's House, warehouse, and clerk's quarters - were linked with palisades and turned into the premiere island hotel of the time, the John Jacob Astor House. It remained the social center of the island until the construction of the

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

Stuart House City Museum

In 1900, the complex was sold to the city of Mackinac Island. It was operated as a hotel until 1929. In 1941 the building were separated back into individual units. The Robert Stuart House was used as a museum, and is now known as the Stuart House City Museum. The bulk of the items in the museum were created by Dale Verne Gensman (Rounds) and are on semi-permanent loan to the museum. Dale was the son of Frank Rounds, builder of the Round Island lighthouse and Mackinac Island carpenter. The items donated by Dale are maintained by his Children and Grandchildren. Dale painting museum piece

Description

The Robert Stuart House is a two-story,

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style structure with side gables sitting on a brick foundation. It is built with hand-hewn timber frame and clad with

clapboards Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

. The roof is shingled and features gabled

dormers A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

. The front facade has a two-sided stairway leading to a small entry porch. The entrance door is flanked by sidelights and pilasters. The multiple windows have small panes.

References

External links

Stuart House City Museum
- City of Mackinac Island Museums {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Robert, House Mackinac Island Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Houses in Mackinac County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites Museums in Mackinac County, Michigan History museums in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Mackinac County, Michigan American Fur Company