Kelleys Island is both a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Erie County, Ohio Erie County is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,622. Its county seat and largest city is Sandusky. The county is named for the Erie tribe, whose name was their word for ...

, and the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

which it fully occupies in

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) 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 also has the shortest avera ...

. The island has a total area of and was formed by glacial action on

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and dolomite. As of the 2020 census it has a year-round population of under 300 and is primarily a vacation destination with a large seasonal influx of visitors and workers.

History

Kelleys Island was previously occupied by Native Americans of the area. During the beginning of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, the island was used as a military rendezvous post, first by the British and later by the

U.S. Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

. The British originally called it Sandusky Island. Later the United States took it over and officially designated it as Island Number 6 and Cunningham Island. During the early 19th century, the island was mostly uninhabited. It was renamed as Kelleys Island in 1840 by brothers Datus and Irad Kelley, who had purchased nearly the entire island. After the Kelley brothers purchased the land, there was commercial development through extraction of the island's

and

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

resources, and the population began to grow with workers and families. There was also growing of grapes as a commodity crop. As of the 2010 census, the island's population was 312. Today, Kelleys Island is primarily a vacation destination, and is visited by thousands of people each summer. Notable attractions include its various beaches, parks, and campgrounds. Several

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

provide regular transport to the mainland for most travelers; the island also features a number of

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

s, as well as a small

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

for private planes. It is the largest of the American

Lake Erie Islands The Lake Erie Islands are a chain of archipelagic islands in Lake Erie. They include Kelleys Island, Erie Island, Pelee Island, the Bass Islands, and several others. The majority of these islands are under the sovereignty of the State of Ohio in t ...

, and is a part of the

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Native Americans and Inscription Rock

Kelleys Island is a

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

limestone and dolomite ridge carved during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

era. The first known occupants of Kelleys Island were Algonquian and

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...

, possibly including

Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, who travelled through the area to fish and at times lived in the area until 1656.Kelleys Island Historical Society page fo
Inscription Rock
. On the south shore of the island (near what is now the downtown-village area), there is a large limestone rock featuring

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s carved over a number of years by these and earlier indigenous inhabitants;Kelleys Island Chamber of Commerce page:

". it was later named ' Inscription Rock (Kelleys Island, Ohio), Inscription Rock' by scholars in the mid-19th century. The Kelleys Island Historical Association relies on the

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

investigations, which dated the carvings to roughly 1643. He theorized that the rock was used by members of "seasonal" Native American tribes, to impart information to one another about how the hunting had been in the area, and where their group would next be traveling. Many different items and scenes are cut into the large flat top side of the rock, which measures by 21 feet (10 by 6 m). Over time, most of the inscriptions on this rock have been eroded away. The indigenous peoples who are thought to have inscribed these images are said to have been annihilated about 1665 by

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

nations from the New York area, who were trying to conquer territory to control the fur trade.

Early European settlers

This island is called "Sandusky Island" on maps produced in the latter half of the 18th-century. (Prior to U.S. occupation of this area, the name "Cunningham's Island" seems to have been applied to present-day "Catawba Island", which was then also a true island.) In the late 1790s the

Connecticut Land Company The Connecticut Company or Connecticut Land Company (est. 1795) was a post-colonial land speculation company formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the eastern parts of the newly chartered Connecticut Western ...

surveyed the south east shore of Lake Erie.Touring Ohio page:
Kelleys Island
". A more thorough survey was completed in 1806, when this island was officially designated as "Island Number 6". Later the name "Cunningham's Island" was used to refer to this island. There is a legend that the first European American resident of this island was a man named "Cunningham" (supposedly a "Frenchman" or French-speaking Canadian).''Lake Erie Islands: Sketches & Stories of the First Century After the Battle of Lake Erie'' by Michael Gora
pages 108 - 125
. He was said to have traveled to the island in 1803 with the intention of making his home there, at a time when it was still inhabited by Native Americans. For a while, Cunningham enjoyed friendly relationship with the native people: he built a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

near their village, socialized with their hunters, and traded goods with them on a regular basis. But (as the legend goes) Cunningham had a disagreement with the Native Americans, and a group tore down his home, stole all his possessions, and attempted to kill him. He escaped to the Ohio Peninsula via

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

, but died shortly afterward from his wounds. For many years after his death, the island was known as Cunningham Island. [ However, the legend of Mr. Cunningham might instead apply to present-day Catawba Island, which seems to have been formerly named "Cunningham's Island" by the British, prior to 1804.) (*-Also note that the surname 'Cunningham' is not typically of French origin, but is recorded as of Scottish origin.)] Prior to the

, several other white adventurers are documented as trying to settle this island, but all of them were eventually being driven away, either by the native people, or by the incoming U.S. pioneers and land-owners. By the time the war had ended, the few remaining Native Americans had finally also vacated the island. During the

, the west shore of Cunningham Island was developed as a military rendezvous post by US General

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

. In 1818, a man named Killam briefly attempted to start a logging company, but abandoned the island after the large steam-powered boat he used to transport wood to the mainland wrecked and sank. Around 1826, people slowly began settling on the island; by 1830, six families made up its entire population. About the year 1833, Ben Napier, a Scottish-American veteran of the War of 1812, claimed ownership of this "Cunningham Island" (and also nearby

Put-in-Bay Put-in-Bay is a resort village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, west of Cleveland and east of Toledo. The population was 154 at the 2020 census. The village is a popular summer res ...

), through

squatters rights Adverse possession in common law, and the related civil law concept of usucaption (also ''acquisitive prescription'' or ''prescriptive acquisition''), are legal mechanisms under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of propert ...

.Archive.org article:
Full text of "Sketches and stories of the Lake Erie islands"
, Internet Archive. Napier and his associates often bullied the incoming pioneer settlers, sometimes hijacking their cabins and stealing or killing their livestock.''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' article
"The outlaw of Kelleys Island
". Napier was eventually legally ousted after the court system ruled that he had no ownership rights. In April 1842, he was sentenced to five years in the penitentiary for making false claims of ownership while under oath. Napier was the father of both Nelson Napier, captain of the PS ''Alpena'' when she sank with no survivors in October 1880, and Joseph Napier, a Life-Saving Service station keeper.

Acquisition by the Kelleys

In 1830, John Clemons and his brother began mining the island's limestone, and opened its first

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

.''THE STEAMER ADVENTURE and the KELLEYS ISLAND, OHIO LIMESTONE INDUSTRY''
Ohio Sea Grant, Ohio States University. They built a dock on the north side in order to ship the rock to the American mainland.The

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

Presidential Center article:
Paper Trail - No. 9 SEPTEMBER 2004 - QUARRYING ON KELLEYS ISLAND
". Shortly afterward, brothers Datus and Irad Kelley became aware of the island's potential worth, and slowly began purchasing its land in parcels. Datus and Irad Kelley were born in

Middlefield, Connecticut Middlefield is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 4,217 at the 2020 census. The town includes the village of Rockfall in the northe ...

, on April 24, 1788, and October 24, 1791, respectively.Kelleys Island Historical Society article:
Irad Kelley
".Kelleys Island Historical Society article:

". Datus moved to

Rocky River, Ohio Rocky River is a city in western Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is located along the shore of Lake Erie approximately west of downtown Cleveland. The city is named for the Rocky River (Ohio), Rocky River that for ...

, in 1811, working as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

and sawmill owner. Irad moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, in 1812, eventually becoming a successful merchant,

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

, and real-estate investor. Irad Kelley first became aware of the island after being forced to seek shelter there while transporting goods via sloop

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

to his shop in Cleveland.''Ohio: A History'
page 79
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. On August 20, 1833, the two began purchasing parcels of land on Cunningham Island at the rate of $1.50 per acre. They eventually owned the entire island, and in 1840 changed its name to Kelleys Island.Lakewood, Ohio Public Library page:
Local History Files: 7: Biography K-L
". By this time, the population had risen to 68 people. Kelleys Island Estes Schoolhouse

The brothers quickly began improving and expanding the island's docks to export limestone, fruit, and red cedar lumber. Soon, 16 limestone

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

s were producing

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

. The village's various industries hired a number of immigrants (including young children), many of whom would work on the island during the summer and return to their homeland during the winter. Among the nationalities working on the island at that time were Irish,

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Slav The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

s, Macedonians,

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

, and Portuguese. Datus Kelley encouraged

sobriety Sobriety is the condition of not having any effects from alcohol (drug), alcohol and other psychoactive drug, drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at Childbirth, birth. A person in a state of sobriety is ...

, and paid his employees bonuses for abstaining from "intoxifying

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

s". The quarries were the origin of the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company, which was once the largest producer of limestone and lime products in the world, operating between 1896 and the early 1960s. Numerous ruins of these operations and quarries now dot the island. In 1842, Charles Carpenter (son-in-law of Datus Kelley) of

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, began growing and harvesting

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s for

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

on Kelleys Island. By the early 20th century, the island was annually producing 500,000 gallons of wine per year. The small village grew quickly, and soon a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

were erected. In 1901, the Estes

School A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

house was built at a cost of $15,000.

Recent history and modern day

Kelleys Island is heavily forested except for several

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

areas, some for year-round residents, others for summer vacationers. Some small farms and a small limestone quarry still operate on the island. Each summer since 1974 (typically in August), the island hosts a weekend-long

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada. United St ...

festival, which includes a theme

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

featuring both locals and vacationers, a

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

, and a number of food and craft booths.''Port Clinton Herald'' article:
Sports take spotlight at Kelleys Island homecoming
" Alvar4

Kelleys Island has a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located on Division Street, about a mile north from the center of downtown.USGenWeb Archives Special Projects
Kelleys Island cemetery information
Although the cemetery is relatively small, several hundred people are buried or have memorial headstones there. Burials include that of Datus Kelley. In 1975, on the island's southern shore were designated as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

, the Kelleys Island South Shore District, and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In 1988, the district was renamed to the Kelleys Island Historic District and expanded to include the entire island. Kelleys Island is one of 20 members of the Great Lakes Islands Alliance, which includes islands in the US and Canada. Other member islands include nearby Middle Bass, South Bass, and Pelee as well as Lake Michigan's

Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Islands, Lake Ontario's Amherst, Howe, Simcoe, and Wolfe Islands, Lake Huron's Bois Blanc, Drummond, Les Cheneaux, Mackinac, Manitoulin, Neebish,

St. Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orth ...

, and

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

Islands, Lake Superior's

Madeline Island Madeline Island (Ojibwe: ''Mooningwanekaaning)'' is an island in Lake Superior. Located in Ashland County, Wisconsin, it has long been a spiritual center of the Lake Superior Chippewa. Although the largest of the Apostle Islands, it is not in ...

, and Lake St. Clair's

Harsens Island Harsens Island is a marshy island at the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair, in the U.S. state of Michigan. Politically, the island is in Clay Township of St. Clair County. History The island was named for its first Euro-American se ...

Tourism

Kelleys Island is primarily a vacation destination. It is one of only 17 islands in the Great Lakes that has a year-round population.

Beaches and wildlife

Kelleys Island features a number of public

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

. Many areas allow

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

, and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. In August 2010, a report from

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

in conjunction with the

US Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats in the United States. ...

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and several other

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

agencies listed Kelleys as the 7th most ecologically threatened island in the Great Lakes.''

'' article:
Kelleys Island ranked among most ecologically threatened Great Lakes island ecosystems
."''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issu ...

'' article:
Report: Region's islands precious but threatened
."ConserveOnline page: "". The reasons given for the island's poor ecological health included "development, tourism and recreation, marinas and resorts, increased roads and buildings, incompatible agricultural practices and invasive species."

Businesses

The most common types of establishments on Kelleys Island are

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s, almost all of which have a summer season from May into September. The island also features a coffee shop, miniature golf course, several small

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

s, and a large number of

gift shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collection ...

s. No

is sold on the island outside of bars or restaurants, but several shops do sell beer and wine. The island is also home to The Kelley's Island Wine Company, established in 1872 and at one time one of the nation's largest wineries. It stopped operation after two major fires eventually destroyed its facility during the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

. The 'ruins' of portions of the late-19th-century winery are still standing on the island. In 1982 the Zettler family re-established The Kelley's Island Wine at the site of one of the oldest stone cottages on the island, known as the Nicholas Smith house (built c. 1865).

Camps

Kelleys Island State Park contains a large campground. Camp Patmos, a Christian youth camp, is located on the northeast side of the island. Camp Patmos was purchased in 1952 from Nativity B.V.M. Parish of Cleveland as the site of a faith-based summer camp for youth. The Erie County 4H Camp is located on the north side of the island.

Transportation

Ferries

The first ferry to regularly serve the island was the Neuman Ferry, founded in 1907 by John Paul Neuman.Neuman Ferry website:
History
." The boat originally provided transport from

Lakeside, Ohio Lakeside is a private community and census-designated place in Danbury Township, Ohio, Danbury Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was formed in 1873 by members of the Methodist Churc ...

to what is now East Harbor State Park on Catawba Island (which is actually a peninsula). Eventually, he began service to the islands as well, including Kelleys. At its peak, the company operated a fleet of four ferries: the ''Commuter'', the ''Corsair'', the ''Kelleys Islander'', usually running out of Marblehead; and the ''Challenger'' running out of Sandusky. The company folded in the first decade of the 21st century due to financial mismanagement, excessive growth with low market share, and steep price competition by the recently established Kelleys Island Ferry. The Kelleys Island Ferry is the only line that runs year-round (weather permitting) between the island and the mainland. The line is owned by James "Jim" Palladino and his family. Palladino was tied by local media to the Cleveland Mafia.''Cleveland Scene'' article:
Feeding The Machine: A Quick Look At Who Gives To, And Who Benefits From, Bill Mason's Campaign Treasury
". He was arrested in 1992 for being a felon in possession of over 60 firearms (it is illegal for an individual in Ohio to own any guns if previously convicted of a felony).
", ''

Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily a ...

'' After the Neuman Ferry line closed, Palladino had purchased several boats from the company, as well their dock on the island. The private ferry runs to

Marblehead, Ohio Marblehead is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 865 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It sits at the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, which divides Lake Erie proper from ...

every half-hour during the tourist season, with the ride lasting approximately 25 minutes.Kelleys Island Chamber of Commerce page:
Kelleys Island FAQ
." A competing ferry line named the

Jet Express Jet Express was an airline based in Libreville, Gabon. It operated a domestic schedule linking the major towns of Gabon with regional services to neighbouring countries in West Africa. Its main base was Libreville International Airport and in 20 ...

runs during the season multiple times daily from Sandusky, and

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounc ...

to Kelleys Island.jet-express.com page:
Purple Schedule
." The boat line started in 1988; it operates from May through September. It is a passenger-only ferry, and does not carry vehicles. The Jet Express runs from Sandusky, Ohio and makes stops at Cedar Point, Kelleys Island, and Put-In-Bay.jet-express.com page:
About Jet Express
". The Jet Express boat takes approximately 25 minutes for the trip from Sandusky.

Airport

The east side contains a small public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

, called the Kelleys Island Land Field Airport ( FAA

LID A lid or cover is part of a container, and serves as the closure (container), closure or Seal (mechanical), seal, usually one that completely closes the object. Lids can be placed on small containers such as Tub (container), tubs as well as large ...

: 89D).AirNav page:
89D - Kelleys Island Land Field Airport
." It features a terminal building, a single

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

, and a parking area for

planes Plane most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface * Plane (mathematics), generalizations of a geometrical plane Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane ...

.kelleysisland.us page:
Airport
".

Highways

Kelleys Island is served by

Ohio State Route 575 State Route 575 (SR 575) is a north–south state highway located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. The route is located entirely within the western half of Kelleys Island, one of the Lake Erie Islands. The highway ...

. The route was created in 1937 and has not changed since, and is one of Ohio's only state highways to be disconnected from the rest of the system.

Other

Due to the island's small size, many people use

bicycles A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. ...

golf carts A golf cart (alternatively known as a golf buggy or golf car) is a small motorized vehicle designed originally to carry two golfers and their golf clubs around a golf course with less effort than walking. Over time, variants were introduced t ...

and

motor scooters A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, a transmission that shifts without the operator having to operate a clutch lever, a platform for their feet, and with a method of operation that emph ...

as their regular transportation while there. Automobiles can be transported to the island via ferry; though most roads are modern, some streets on the north side as well as near the quarries are unpaved.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Geology

Kelleys Island consists of Middle

(

Eifelian The Eifelian is the first of two faunal stages in the Middle Devonian Epoch. It lasted from 393.3 ± 1.2 million years ago to 387.7 ± 0.8 million years ago. It was preceded by the Emsian Stage and followed by the Givetian Stage. North American ...

Stage)

s and dolomites, the Lucas Dolostone, and the

Columbus Limestone The Columbus Limestone is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of fossiliferous limestone. It occurs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the United States, and in Ontario, Canada. Description Depositional environment The depositional en ...

. The Lucas Dolostone is intensely dolomitized. With the exception of localized algal

mounds A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand. Mound and Mounds may also refer to: Places * Mound, Louisiana, United States * Mound, Minnesota, United States * Mound, Texas, United States * Mound, West Virginia * Moun ...

and stromatoporoids, it is sparsely

fossiliferous A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved i ...

. Several species of stromatoporoids, which represent four

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, have been recorded from the Lucas Dolostone of Kelleys Island. The Lucas Dolostone accumulated within coastal

subtidal The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminate ...

to peritidal

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s. These mudflats were permanently submerged and progressively buried beneath muddy

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

and

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

s as

relative sea level Relative sea level (RSL) is defined as the sea level that is observed with respect to a land-based reference frame. It is often contrasted with eustatic sea level, which is a measure of the total mass or volume of the oceans. Relative sea level can ...

rose and the shoreline shifted westward during the Eifelian Stage.Feldmann, R.M., and Bjerstedt, T.W., 1987
''Kelleys Island: Giant glacial grooves and Devonian shelf carbonates.''
In Biggs, D.L., ed., ''Centennial Field Guide Volume 3 - North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America.'' Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, p. 395-398. Columbus LS etched KellysIsland

Overlying the Lucas Dolostone, is the Columbus Limestone, which consists of the lowermost Bellepoint Member, middle Marblehead Member, and uppermost Venice Member. The Bellepoint Member consists of

wackestone Under the Dunham classification (Dunham, 1962Dunham, R.J., 1962. Classification of carbonate rocks according to depositional texture. In: W.E. Ham (Ed.), Classification of Carbonate Rocks. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir. Amer ...

s and

packstone Under the Dunham classification (Dunham, 1962Dunham, R.J. (1962) Classification of carbonate rocks according to depositional texture. In: Classification of Carbonate Rocks (Ed. W.E. Ham), Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem., 1, 108–121.) system of limesto ...

s, which accumulated as muddy shoals and contain a large number of

rugose coral The Rugosa or rugose corals are an extinct class of solitary and colonial corals that were abundant in Middle Ordovician to Late Permian seas. Solitary rugosans (e.g., '' Caninia'', '' Lophophyllidium'', '' Neozaphrentis'', '' Streptelasma ...

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

s, rostroconchs, and

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...

s. The Marblehead Member consists of a lower, thick-bedded,

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

y, dolomitic, heavily-burrowed

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

deposited in lagoonal conditions below mean

wave base The wave base, in physical oceanography, is the maximum depth at which a water wave's passage causes significant water motion. At water depths deeper than the wave base, bottom sediments and the seafloor are no longer stirred by the wave motion ...

. These mudstones grade upward into thinner bedded, sparsely fossiliferous packstones and grainstones of this member's upper part that accumulated as subtidal shoals. A rippled,

hardground Carbonate hardgrounds are surfaces of synsedimentarily cemented carbonate layers that have been exposed on the seafloor (Wilson and Palmer, 1992). A hardground is essentially, then, a lithified seafloor. Ancient hardgrounds are found in limeston ...

surface forms the top of the Marblehead Member This hardground represents either a period of subaerial erosion or the lack of sediment accumulation at a shallow depth for a significant interval of time. The Marblehead Member is overlain by mudstones and wackestones of the uppermost Venice Member of the Columbus Limestone. This member accumulated below wave base in the open sea after relative sea level rose again. The Devonian limestone and dolomite that comprise Kelleys Island has been deeply eroded and scoured by the Laurentide Ice Sheet over the

. On the island, the largest exposure of glacial grooves and striations created by glacial erosion is preserved in Glacial Grooves State Memorial, which is associated with

Kelleys Island State Park Kelleys Island State Park is a public recreation area occupying one-quarter of Kelleys Island, an island in Lake Erie located northeast of Port Clinton, Ohio, in the United States. The state park's include of hiking trails, ruins of lime kiln ...

. Within the Memorial, giant glacial grooves in a depression about wide and deep are exposed in an

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

about long. Near the east edge of the outcrop, a number of the grooves are relatively straight, smooth, and exhibit striated surfaces. Farther west, the path of the individual grooves becomes far more tortuous, and striations are less distinct and fewer in number. Munro-Stasiuk and othersMunro-Stasiuk, M.J., Fisher, T.G. and Nitzsche, C.R., 2005. ''The origin of the western Lake Erie grooves, Ohio: implications for reconstructing the subglacial hydrology of the Great Lakes sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.'' ''Quaternary Science Reviews'', 24(22), pp.2392-2409. argue that the giant glacial grooves and the depression, in which they lie, were eroded by highly turbulent, high velocity, sediment-laden meltwater flows. Judging from similar tortuous, giant, glacial grooves, which are found all over, and between, the Lake Erie islands on high and low areas, the erosional features are interpreted to have formed during a subglacial meltwater megaflood that took place before or near the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 census showed a population of 289 with a median age of 65.9, in 149 households.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 312 people, 175 households, and 99 families residing in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 859 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 0.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 175 households, of which 10.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 1.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.4% were non-families. 41.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.78 and the average family size was 2.34. The median age in the village was 58.8 years. 9.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 1.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 11.2% were from 25 to 44; 43.6% were from 45 to 64; and 34.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 52.6% male and 47.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 367 people, 183 households, and 112 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 709 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 99.46%

, 0.27%

, 0.27% from other races.

or Latino of any race were 0.27% of the population. There were 183 households, out of which 15.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were

living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.99 and the average family size was 2.55. In the village, the population was spread out, with 15.0% under the age of 18, 2.2% from 18 to 24, 19.9% from 25 to 44, 40.1% from 45 to 64, and 22.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $35,500, and the median income for a family was $49,375. Males had a median income of $29,643 versus $26,071 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $21,944. About 7.6% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over. Kelleys Island Library

Education

Kelleys Island School Kelleys Island Local School is a public K-12 school on Kelleys Island, Ohio, United States, that serves the island. It is the only high school in the Kelleys Island Local School District. The school's athletic teams are nicknamed the Green Devil ...

serves the island and is located on Division Street. The village has a public library, a branch of the Sandusky Library system.

Notes

References

External links

Kelleys Island Chamber of Commerce

Kelleys Island Historical Society

at

TripAdvisor Tripadvisor is an American company that operates online travel agency, travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content. Its namesake brand, Tripadvisor.com, operates in 40 countries and 20 languages, and ...

Kelleys Island Land Field Airport
at AirNav {{Authority control Villages in Erie County, Ohio Populated places established in 1826 National Register of Historic Places in Erie County, Ohio Islands of Lake Erie in Ohio Ohio populated places on Lake Erie Landforms of Erie County, Ohio 1826 establishments in Ohio Tourist attractions in Sandusky, Ohio Kelleys Island, Ohio Villages in Ohio