The Mackinac Bridge, connecting Michigan's two peninsulas, opens. After numerous proposals to bridge the Straits of Mackinac—the earliest in 1884—Governor G. Mennen Williams appointed the Mackinac Bridge Authority in 1950. Former U.S. Senator Prentiss M. Brown of St. Ignace served as chairman. After much effort, the authority received legislative permission to build the bridge. The project began in May 1954. The bridge's central span—3,800 feet between the towers—is the third largest such span in the world. The length between anchorages is 8,614 feet, making it the world's longest suspension bridge at this time. By 1989, two million vehicles annually will cross the bridge, and every Labor Day thousands of people will walk across the 26,444-foot-long structure.

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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