 A structure was first proposed in 1888 by one of the directors of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.Car ferry service was started in 1923 to cross the straits, and a bridge authority was first created in 1934 to investigate the possibility of building a permanent connection across the straits.This early authority started with a 1921 proposal for a series of bridges that would have connected Cheboygan to St. Ignace by way of Bois Blanc, Round, and Mackinac islands.