Kelleys Island is the largest of the U.S. western islands of Lake Erie. Accessible by ferry or private boat and small plane, it lies about four miles from Marblehead and twelve miles from Sandusky, Ohio on the mainland.
Historically, the island belonged to the Native Americans, the glaciers and the dinosaurs. Today, this charming island offers a multitude of vacation and recreational activities: camping, swimming, fishing, cycling, boating, horseback riding, partying,shopping, and diving to explore shipwrecks. It has become a popular site for weddings and reunions, retreats and vacations.
Ice Age Passing
Deep glacial grooves discovered on Kelleys Island long ago evidence the powerful passage of the Ice Age’s receding glacier. These grooves are believed to be among the largest exposed grooves in the world, if not “the” largest.
The glacier that carved these grooves is called the Wisconsin Glacier. A walking tour of the grooves is a popular tourist activity on Kelleys Island and for local residents as well.
Native Americans History
Historians are fairly certain that the Erie Indians lived on Kelleys Island until they were displaced by the Iroquois in the mid 1600s. Inscription Rock, located on the south side of Kelleys Island, is inscribed with petroglyphs believed to have been carved by the Eries to record their history during their time there.
European Settlement
Kelleys Island was included in the Connecticut land grant known as the Western Reserve. The island’s first European settler is said to have been a man named Cunningham around 1800. In 1817 the island was divided into 13 parcels by the Connecticut Land Company.
Sometime in the 1830s two brothers name Kelley of Cleveland, Ohio, acquired all 13 parcels with the plan to start development. Their name stuck as the island’s identifying name.
Fishing and Other Passions
Fishing has always been a Great Lakes passion, and no less so at Kelleys Island. Fish stories abound for as long as memory serves. One story published in the Jefferson City Post-Tribune, (of Jefferson City, MO) on May 3, 1935, described the capture of a 175-pound sturgeon caught in Lake Erie by fishermen at Kelleys Island. A photo of the men with the giant fish was included in the article for proof of the story. The fish netted them $250, a grand sum for those Depression Era days: 50 pounds of roe at $3.00 a pound and steaks worth $100.
Hunting, winemaking, and limestone quarrying joined fishing as the main sources of commerce for Kelleys Island. In addition, people who could afford it recognized in the big quiet island a haven for private summer homes.
On August 28, 1873, the Sandusky Register described Kelleys Island as “admirably adapted for recreation and amusement. The health inspiring and balmy breezes, the grand natural facilities for rational enjoyment, the superior opportunities to observe and study the sublimities of nature, the joy and solace of her communion and the slightest touch of her majestic wildness, all conduce to make Kelleys island better suited to quietude and rest from the cares of the ordinary routine of business life than any existing similar resort.” The article went on to opine that the island would rival Cape May and Saratoga had its early settlers recognized this potential by erecting great magnificent hotels instead of concentrating on raising grapes and digging stone.
Summer Retreat
Nevertheless, the observations of the 1873 journalist were in a sense prophetic, for Kelleys Island today is indeed a place that has come into its own for tourism. Its restaurants, hotels, campsites, private rentals, and bed and breakfasts, are noted for private getaways and "party central." And yet, it has developed this capacity to attract a broad variety of people with eclectic options for recreational pursuits without losing its historic identity and peaceful aura.
Kelleys Island has capitalized its “health inspiring and balmy breezes” for tourism, but not in a manner that has overrun it into ruination. In a world where such a thing is next to impossible to achieve, the Great Lakes' largest American island has kept its identity and made that very thing its “capital.” There is something for everyone to do and enjoy without the pressures of commerce, noise and anxiety.
Linda Ashar - Linda C. Ashar is a lawyer, educator, horse breeder, freelance writer, and artist. Her 25-year law practice in Avon, Ohio, focuses on ...
