For some Mackinac Island visitors, the name Benjamin is synonymous with the Market Street blacksmith shop that still today gives demonstrations of the old craft. Yet, the family name that has been part of Mackinac Island since the 1880s has been a fixture on Main Street for a long time, too.
Benjamin of Mackinac in 2025 celebrates its 75th anniversary of serving visitors out of the storefront with a distinctive yellow awning at 7301 Main St. Because the business was started as an art and photography shop, we’re commemorating the occasion with some old photos.
Take a look!
The Beginnings of Benjamin Gifts
It was back in the 1880s when the Benjamin family started a blacksmith shop on Mackinac Island, with Robert Benjamin and his son, Herbert, fixing carriage wheels and shoeing horses. The shop remained in business into the 1960s, adding lawnmower repair and yacht motor maintenance to its list of services.
While his father and grandfather worked the trade, Robert E. Benjamin took a different path. He served in the U.S. Army as a photographer and later studied photography in New York before becoming an art teacher. With his summers off from school, he then came back to Mackinac Island in 1950 to start Benjamin Kodak.
Mackinac Island’s Premier Photography Shop
Benjamin Kodak for decades was a lifesaver for visitors looking to preserve their memories of Mackinac Island through pictures. Photography accessories including film, batteries and, later on, digital memory cards were vital aspects of the visitor experience.
Among the store’s original items still popular today are Mackinac Island postcards with photos shot by Benjamin himself.
A New Era For Benjamin Of Mackinac
While photography technology has shifted to smartphones for the typical visitor, Benjamin of Mackinac has broadened its offerings in recent years. Robert retired in 2015 and now one of his sons, Mike, owns the business and his daughter, Jane Young, runs the shop.
Photography supplies including disposable cameras, memory cards for digital cameras and charging cords for phones are still staples of the business. So are gifts, jewelry, clothing, dog toys, candles, coasters and much more.
The Benjamin Family Legacy
Although Robert E. Benjamin passed away in 2017, his photography lives on in the vintage postcards that are available at the store. You also can find his photography in books that are available both at Benjamin and
on the shelf at The Island Bookstore (which itself has a 50th anniversary in 2025!). Look for “Mackinac Island: Three Hundred Fifty Years Of History” and “Mackinac Album,” which features photos from the Benjamin collection.
Meanwhile, the Benjamin Blacksmith Shop remains a popular visitor attraction run by Mackinac State Historic Parks. You can stop in to watch a demonstration involving an anvil and forge to see what blacksmithing is like and even leave with a souvenir.
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