Bois Blanc Island, commonly called Boblo Island, is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

on the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

side of the border and is part of

Amherstburg, Ontario Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

. The island is about long, wide and in size. The main northbound shipping channel of the Detroit River currently lies between Bois Blanc Island and the Amherstburg mainland. A stone lighthouse was built in 1836 on the southern tip of Boblo Island which marks the historical beginning of the Detroit River navigation channel for ships travelling upriver from

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

in more modern times. It is now part of the

Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse and Blockhouse The Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse and Blockhouse is a National Historic Site of Canada located in Ontario on Bois Blanc Island, one of the islands in the Detroit River. It consists of a lighthouse, owned by Parks Canada, and a blockhouse, ...

. Bois Blanc means "White Woods," a name derived from the many

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

and

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

trees in the area. "Boblo" is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

corruption of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

pronunciation of the name. Several islands with the same name dot the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, and nearly all are known as "Boblo" or "Bob-lo" by the local populations.

History

The island had strategic importance when

Fort Amherstburg Fort Amherstburg was built by the Royal Canadian Volunteers at the mouth of the Detroit River to replace Fort Detroit, which Britain was required to cede to the United States of America in 1796 as a result of the Jay Treaty. Built in the years ...

(now

Fort Malden Fort Malden, formally known as Fort Amherstburg, is a defence fortification located in Amherstburg, Ontario. It was built in 1795 by Great Britain in order to ensure the security of British North America against any potential threat of American i ...

) was built in 1796 to guard passage along the Detroit River after

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan was turned over to the Americans. Guns from the fort could reach the island across the navigable waters and hence secured the river. Its association with the ancient

Sauk Trail The Sauk Trail was originally a Native American trail running through what are present-day Illinois, Indiana and Michigan in the United States. From west to east, the trail ran from Rock Island on the Mississippi River to the Illinois River near ...

, the earliest European reference made about the island in 1718, which describes 70

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

families peacefully farming the fertile land, later it became the place where French Catholic had a mission for the

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language * Wyandot religion Places * Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Wyandot County, Ohio * Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...

(Wendat) First Nation (also known as "the Huron Indians") in the 18th century, the location of the site of the headquarters for the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

Chief

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

("Shooting Star") the leader of a large tribal confederacy (known as

Tecumseh's Confederacy Tecumseh's confederacy was a confederation of native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States that began to form in the early 19th century around the teaching of Tenskwatawa (The Prophet).See , pg. 211. The confederation grew ove ...

), during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and it was the location of the invasion point for 60 Canadian "Patriots" on January 8, 1838 during the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...

. It also served as the stepping stone for numerous individuals on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

to Canada. One estimate puts 30,000 people as having had crossed over between 1834 and 1860. In 1875, a set of

range lights Leading lights (also known as range lights in the United States) are a pair of light beacons used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel; they may also be used for position fixing. At night ...

were constructed on the island by the Canadian government. By 1879, it was used as a summer home by McKee Rankin and Kitty Blanchard.

Boblo Island Amusement Park

Boblo Island Boat Dock Building Detroit (filtered)

Bois Blanc is known regionally as the former home of the Boblo Island Amusement Park, which began operation in 1898 and closed on September 30, 1993. The Nightmare (ride),

Falling Star Falling Star(s) or The Falling Star may refer to: *Meteor or falling star, the visible passage of a glowing meteoroid through Earth's atmosphere Film and television *''The Falling Star'', a 1950 German drama film directed by Harald Braun * Falli ...

Wild Mouse A wild mouse is a type of roller coaster consisting of single or spinning cars traversing a tight-winding track with an emphasis on sharp, unbanked turns. The upper portion of the track usually features multiple 180-degree turns, known as flat ...

, Sky Streak and

Screamer The screamers are three South American bird species placed in Family (biology), family Anhimidae. They were thought to be related to the Galliformes because of similar beak, bills, but are more closely related to ducks (family Anatidae),Todd, F. ...

were the signature rides. Boblo Island 1988

For more than 85 years, the park was serviced by SS ''Ste. Clair'' and . A 1910 advertisement in the ''Detroit Free Press'' offered a trip to Boblo Island. The Boblo Island Amusement Park was famous for those two steamers, which went between Detroit and the island. A lawsuit concerning the power of the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

to prohibit racial discrimination on the ferries, '' Bob-Lo Excursion Co. v. Michigan''
333 U.S. 28
(1948), reached the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

and resulted in a notable decision construing the Commerce Clause. During the Vietnam War, when Canada had become a safe haven for those who refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army, Boblo Island became an efficient transit point for Americans who sought refuge from prosecution. Those seeking to pass into Canada would take the boat from Detroit to Boblo and, upon arrival, would trade their return tickets with persons who had arrived on the island from Amherstburg. Those who had come from Canada took the return trip to Detroit, and those who had come from Detroit took the return trip to Amherstburg, thus arriving in Canada without having to pass through customs at the border.

Today

The island is currently being developed as Boblo Island and Marina Resort Community by Amico Properties Limited. Boblo Island now has a community of homes and condominiums. The island is served by a private ferry. Temporary alterations of both of the steamers, ''Columbia'' and ''Ste. Clair'', was made for the 2014 feature film '' Transformers: Age of Extinction''. The ''Ste. Claire'' was engulfed in an accidental fire while docked on the

on July 6, 2018. The fire could not be contained and destroyed the historic mahogany woodwork and upper decks. "Yeah, she's 110 years old, but she's well-built and she survived," said boat co-owner, Ron Kattoo. "We are at the point in restoration to where it was a steel skeleton structure ready to be rebuilt." As of 2019, the vessel is docked at Riverside Marina in Detroit.

References

External links

BOB-LO ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK 1898-1993

Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada

{{Authority control River islands of Ontario Landforms of Essex County, Ontario Islands of the Detroit River

History

Boblo Island Amusement Park

Today

See also

References

Further reading

External links