The Biddle House on Market Street is one of the oldest surviving buildings on Mackinac Island, constructed sometime before 1800 when the island was at the height of its importance as a fur trade centre. The American Fur Company, controlled by John Jacob Astor, ran its Great Lakes operations through Mackinac, and Market Street was the commercial spine of that empire — fur traders, Native American merchants, and company agents all passed through these buildings.
The house is now a furnished museum showing domestic life on the island in the early 19th century, and it stands next to the Benjamin Blacksmith Shop, one of the oldest blacksmithies still operating in the United States. Both are included in the Fort Mackinac admission ticket. Market Street itself is worth a slow walk — several of its buildings date from the same era and the street has a different character from the tourist-facing Main Street.