Mackinac-born US Senator Thomas Ferry introduced the bill to do so after the Yellowstone designation. He argued that the active military personnel station there, as the island was then mostly a military reservation, would do double duty as caretakers of the island, which helped convince other congressmen. The park was placed within the United States Department of War. With the leased parcel revenue plan in 1888, the fort was able to build trails, improve roads, and even put up an observation tower on the island's highest point at Fort Holmes. The War Department decommissioned the fort given its lack of military strategic importance in 1890. With the decommissioning, the troops were moved off the island leaving no one to care for the park. The department suggested a sale of the park. A grassroots lobbying campaign led in September 1895 for the U.S. government to turn over the park and fort to the State of Michigan. The state legislature established the Mackinac Island State Park Commission to manage the park and its structures as the first state park, Mackinac Island State Park. Information centers Soldiers' Barracks Visitor Center Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau Historic areas Historic buildings Fort Mackinac - museum Fort Holmes Mission Church - museum Mission House American Fur Company Retail Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum - museum Matthew Geary House Benjamin Blacksmith Shop - museum Biddle House - museum Governor's Mansion (Lawrence Andrew Young Cottage) Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum - formerly Indian Dormitory McGulpin House - museum Sites Battlefield of 1814 British Landing Cemeteries Lime Kiln Marquette Park Wawashkamo Golf Club Caves and rock formations Arch Rock Gitchi Manitou Sugar Loaf Cave of the Woods Crack-in-the-Island Eagle Point Cave Skull Cave Friendship's Altar Sunset Rock (sometimes called Chimney Rock) Devil's Kitchen Robinson's Folly Installations Anne's Tablet Gallery Mackinac State Historic Parks Mackinac State Historic Parks is an agency within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources lead by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. The Parks consist of several parks, museum and other historical areas in the Straits of Mackinac area with the major groups includes Mackinac Island State Park, Michilimackinac State Park and Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park in Mackinaw City. The agency is governed by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, a seven-member body. The commissioner are appointed by the governor to six year terms with confirmation by the Michigan Senate. While a national park,