Straits of Mackinac

Handmade laser cut 3D topographic wood map
Materials: High-quality Baltic Birch Wood
Framed in solid wood, ready to hang
Protected by acrylic glass
Depths of ocean/ lake/ river engraved on wood
Up to 9 layers of depth
Incredibly detailed with engraved points of interest

In between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas, there are a series of narrow waterways known as the Straits of Mackinac. Its primary strait connects two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The native Odawa people once called this lake Michilimackinac, but is now referred to as the strait that is “whipsawed by currents unlike anywhere else in the Great Lakes.” There are two populated islands in the straits, Bois Blanc and Mackinac. The Round and St. Helena islands are uninhabited. This body of water is also used as a major shipping lane from the iron mines of Minnesota to the steel mills of Gary, Indiana. Raw materials and finished goods alike are passaged along this watery highway. Many immigrants arrived in the Midwest via ships along the Great Lakes before the railway system reached the city of Chicago, though today the only passenger ferries available take people to Mackinac Island, where cars are not permitted.