Mouse Island is a

private island A private island is a disconnected body of land wholly owned by a private citizen or corporation. Although this exclusivity gives the owner substantial control over the property, private islands remain under the jurisdiction of national and some ...

located in

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 ...

off the northern tip of Catawba Point in Ottawa County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, near the city of Sandusky (). It was formerly named "Ship Island", as denoted on early-19th-Century maps (and in some late-18th-Century documents).A short topographical description of His Majesty's province of Upper Canada in North America to which is annexed a provincial gazetteer, by Sir David Wm. Smyth, publ 1799 It was later named Mouse Island for its small size. It is part of Catawba Island Township. The island was once owned by the American president

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...

. The Hayes family built two small cabins, a hand ferry to the shore, a tennis court and supplied the island with running water. In the 1930s the island fell into disuse and all amenities were destroyed by fire or neglect. Remains of the structures can still be found on the island today – including the native stone chimneys of the summer cabins as well as part of the foundation. The Island is privately owned and is not open for public visitation. A limestone reef between the island and shoreline presents a safety hazard for watercraft that draw more than 3 feet.

References

Islands of Ottawa County, Ohio Islands of Lake Erie in Ohio Private islands of Ohio Private islands of the Great Lakes {{OttawaCountyOH-geo-stub