Louisignon Trail is a delightful, wooded path leading from Annex Road to Stonecliffe. The trail runs parallel to Stonecliffe Road and serves hikers, bikers, horseback riders, and the occasional venturesome dray. The trail is named after one of the island’s early residents who established a small farm on the property now occupied by the Inn at Stonecliffe.

Several farms once occupied large sections of Mackinac Island, beginning in the late 18th century. The British military and civilian community moved from the south side of the Straits of Mackinac (today’s Mackinaw City) to Mackinac Island beginning in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. While the soldiers constructed and lived within the new stone walls of Fort Mackinac, residents established a palisaded village under the protection of the fort around the bay. When peace returned to the region following the war, agriculturally minded residents ventured beyond the protective walls of the village and established farms across the island. Islanders continued to clear property for farms into the early 19th century.

Born in Contrecoeur, Quebec, Canada in 1774, Francis Louisignon moved west and settled in Green Bay where he married Agathe Langlade in 1801. Prior to the War of 1812, they moved to Mackinac Island and established a small, 37-acre farm. He subsequently filed a claim to the property which the United States government confirmed as Private Claim #3 in 1823. Just seven years later, Michael Dousman purchased Louisignon’s farm, but he sold it a few years later and the crop fields were soon reclaimed by the Mackinac forest.

William L. Benham, an executive with the Michigan Central Railroad, purchased a large portion of the old Louisignon farm in 1887. Hoping to create a summer cottage colony on the property, he registered a platted subdivision on the property that he christened “Benham’s Annex to the Village of Mackinac and National Park.” Despite the beauty and tranquility of Benham’s proposed summer community, the new lots failed to excite potential cottagers. By 1901, only 12 lots had sold, and no one took the bold step of building the first “Benham’s Annex” cottage.

Three years later wealthy Chicago meatpacker Michael Cudahy purchased the property and constructed a magnificent English Revival summer cottage. Subsequently named Stonecliffe by second owners Alvin and Sallie Hert, the cottage sits in the middle of what was once one of Mackinac Island’s early farms.