Editing Kelleys Island, Ohio (section)

==History==
Kelleys Island was previously occupied by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] of the area. During the beginning of the [[War of 1812]], the island was used as a military rendezvous post, first by the British and later by the [[US Military|U.S. Military]]. 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 [[limestone]] and [[lumber]] 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 United States Census|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 [[ferry|ferries]] provide regular transport to the mainland for most travelers; the island also features a number of [[marina]]s, as well as a small [[airfield]] for private planes. It is the largest of the American [[Lake Erie Islands]], and is a part of the [[Sandusky, Ohio]] [[Sandusky metropolitan area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]].

===Native Americans and Inscription Rock===
Kelleys Island is a [[Devonian]] limestone and dolomite ridge carved during the [[Pleistocene]] era.<ref name="Munro-StasiukOthers2005a"/> The first known occupants of Kelleys Island were [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] and [[Iroquoian peoples|Iroquoian]], possibly including [[Erie Indians|Erie]], who travelled through the area to fish and at times lived in the area until 1656.<ref name="ir">Kelleys Island Historical Society page for [http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_places/inscription_rock.htm Inscription Rock] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724034851/http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_places/inscription_rock.htm |date=July 24, 2008 }}.</ref>

On the south shore of the island (near what is now the downtown-village area), there is a large limestone rock featuring [[petroglyph]]s carved over a number of years by these and earlier indigenous inhabitants;<ref name="kichamber">Kelleys Island Chamber of Commerce page: "[https://www.kelleysislandchamber.com/island-history/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830112020/https://www.kelleysislandchamber.com/island-history/|date=August 30, 2023}}".</ref><ref name="ir" /> 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]] 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.<ref name="ir" />

Many different items and scenes are cut into the large flat top side of the rock, which measures {{convert|32|ft|m}} 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]] nations from the New York area, who were trying to conquer territory to control the fur trade.<ref name="kichamber" />

===Early European settlers===
This island is called "Sandusky Island" on maps produced in the latter half of the 18th-century.<ref>''A Survey of the South Shore of Lake Erie commencing at the Narrows at Fort Erie, and ending at the entrance of Detroit River taken in 1789'' by Hy. Ford Naval Offr. Pk. McNiff Asst. Surv. by Order of His Excellency The Rt. Hon'ble. Lord Dorchester Governor</ref> (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.)<ref>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</ref> In the late 1790s the [[Connecticut Land Company]] surveyed the south east shore of Lake Erie.<ref name="touringohio">Touring Ohio page: "[http://www.touring-ohio.com/northwest/sandusky/kelleys-island.html Kelleys Island] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922012604/http://www.touring-ohio.com/northwest/sandusky/kelleys-island.html |date=September 22, 2008 }}".</ref> A more thorough survey was completed in 1806, when this island was officially designated as "Island Number 6".<ref>Fire Lands Pioneer, series; publ.1858 by Firelands Historical Society</ref> 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).<ref name="library" /><ref name="lei">''Lake Erie Islands: Sketches & Stories of the First Century After the Battle of Lake Erie'' by Michael Gora - [https://books.google.com/books?id=su_RlvkxoscC&dq=kelleys+island+cunningham&pg=PA108 pages 108 - 125] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830112030/https://books.google.com/books?id=su_RlvkxoscC&dq=kelleys+island+cunningham&pg=PA108 |date=August 30, 2023 }}.</ref> 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.<ref name="lei" /> For a while, Cunningham enjoyed friendly relationship with the native people: he built a [[log cabin]] near their village, socialized with their hunters, and traded goods with them on a regular basis.<ref name="lei" /> 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.<ref name="lei" /> He escaped to the Ohio Peninsula via [[canoe]], but died shortly afterward from his wounds.<ref name="lei" /> For many years after his death, the island was known as Cunningham Island.<ref name="lei" /> [ 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.<ref>''The American Gazetteer'', by Jedidiah Morse - 1804</ref>) (*-Also note that the surname 'Cunningham' is not typically of French origin, but is recorded as of Scottish origin.)] Prior to the [[War of 1812]], 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,<ref name="lei" /> 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 [[War of 1812]], the west shore of Cunningham Island was developed as a military rendezvous post by US General [[William Henry Harrison]].<ref name="lei" /> 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.<ref name="lei" /> Around 1826, people slowly began settling on the island; by 1830, six families made up its entire population.<ref name="lei" />

About the year 1833, Ben Napier, a Scottish-American veteran of the War of 1812,<ref name=Krejci>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xV9qEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Lost Put-in-Bay |first=William G. |last=Krejci |date=2022 |pages=24–25 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-146714740-8 |access-date=November 23, 2024}}</ref> claimed ownership of this "Cunningham Island" (and also nearby [[Put-in-Bay, Ohio|Put-in-Bay]]), through [[squatters rights]].<ref name="archive">Archive.org article: "[https://archive.org/stream/sketchesstorieso00thor/sketchesstorieso00thor_djvu.txt Full text of "Sketches and stories of the Lake Erie islands" ]", Internet Archive.</ref><ref>William Henry Van Benschoten, ''Concerning the Van Bunschoten Or Van Benschoten Family in America'' by - [https://books.google.com/books?id=j6ZYAAAAMAAJ&dq=benjamin+napier+put+in+bay&pg=PA266 page 266] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830112055/https://books.google.com/books?id=j6ZYAAAAMAAJ&dq=benjamin+napier+put+in+bay&pg=PA266 |date=August 30, 2023 }}.</ref> Napier and his associates often bullied the incoming pioneer settlers, sometimes hijacking their cabins and stealing or killing their livestock.<ref name="lei" /><ref name="pd">''[[The Plain Dealer]]'' article: [http://files.usgwarchives.org/oh/erie/history/kellys-island/1925.txt "The outlaw of Kelleys Island] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219002815/http://files.usgwarchives.org/oh/erie/history/kellys-island/1925.txt |date=February 19, 2012 }}".</ref> Napier was eventually legally ousted after the court system ruled that he had no ownership rights.<ref name="lei" /> 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|PS ''Alpena'']] when she sank with no survivors in October 1880, and [[Joseph Napier (USCG)|Joseph Napier]], a Life-Saving Service station keeper.<ref name=Krejci/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aOSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |title=Historic Shipwrecks and Rescues on Lake Michigan |first=Michael |last=Passwater |date=October 3, 2022 |page=5 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-146715196-2 |access-date=November 23, 2024}}</ref>

===Acquisition by the Kelleys===
In 1830, John Clemons and his brother began mining the island's limestone, and opened its first [[quarry]].<ref name="limestone">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100621204853/http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/_documents/publications/TB/TB-035%20The%20Steamer%20Adventure%20and%20the%20Kelleys%20Island%20Ohio%20Limestone%20Industry.pdf ''THE STEAMER ADVENTURE and the KELLEYS ISLAND, OHIO LIMESTONE INDUSTRY''], Ohio Sea Grant, Ohio States University.</ref> They built a dock on the north side in order to ship the rock to the American mainland.<ref name="rbh">The [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] Presidential Center article: "[http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/manunews/paper_trail_display.asp?nid=97&subj=manunews Paper Trail - No. 9 SEPTEMBER 2004 - QUARRYING ON KELLEYS ISLAND] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616103807/http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/manunews/paper_trail_display.asp?nid=97&subj=manunews |date=16 June 2011 }}".</ref> Shortly afterward, brothers Datus and Irad Kelley became aware of the island's potential worth, and slowly began purchasing its land in parcels.<ref name="rbh" />

Datus and Irad Kelley were born in [[Middlefield, Connecticut]], on April 24, 1788, and October 24, 1791, respectively.<ref name="irad">Kelleys Island Historical Society article: "[http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_people/irad_kelley.htm Irad Kelley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518083659/http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_people/irad_kelley.htm |date=2008-05-18 }}".</ref><ref name="datus">Kelleys Island Historical Society article: "[http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_people/datus_kelley.htm Datus Kelley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509142352/http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_people/datus_kelley.htm |date=2008-05-09 }}".</ref> Datus moved to [[Rocky River, Ohio]], in 1811, working as a [[Surveying|surveyor]] and sawmill owner.<ref name="datus" /> Irad moved to [[Cleveland, Ohio]], in 1812, eventually becoming a successful merchant, [[postmaster]], [[sailor]], and real-estate investor.<ref name="irad" /> Irad Kelley first became aware of the island after being forced to seek shelter there while transporting goods via [[sloop]] [[sailboat]] from [[Detroit]] to his shop in Cleveland.<ref name="touringohio" /><ref name="ohhistory">''Ohio: A History'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=360ZKtHJ-qoC&dq=irad+kelley+shelter&pg=PA79 page 79] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830112028/https://books.google.com/books?id=360ZKtHJ-qoC&dq=irad+kelley+shelter&pg=PA79 |date=August 30, 2023 }} at [[Google Books]].</ref> On August 20, 1833, the two began purchasing parcels of land on Cunningham Island at the rate of $1.50 per acre.<ref name="irad" /> They eventually owned the entire {{convert|3000|acre|km2|adj=on}} island, and in 1840 changed its name to Kelleys Island.<ref name="library">Lakewood, Ohio Public Library page: "[http://www.lkwdpl.org/history/7biographyK-L.htm Local History Files: 7: Biography K-L] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829192640/http://www.lkwdpl.org/history/7biographyK-L.htm |date=2008-08-29 }}".</ref><ref name="irad" /> By this time, the population had risen to 68 people.<ref name="lei" />
[[File:Kelleys Island Estes Schoolhouse.jpg|thumb|The Estes Schoolhouse on Kelleys Island]]

The brothers quickly began improving and expanding the island's docks to export limestone, fruit, and [[Juniperus virginiana|red cedar]] lumber.<ref name="lei" /> Soon, 16 limestone [[kiln]]s were producing [[lime (mineral)|lime]]. 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.<ref name="lei" /> Among the nationalities working on the island at that time were Irish, [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Slav]]s, [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]], [[Hungarians]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Italians]], and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]].<ref name="lei" /> Datus Kelley encouraged [[sobriety]], and paid his employees bonuses for abstaining from "intoxifying [[liquor]]s".<ref name="lei" />

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]], began growing and harvesting [[grape]]s for [[wine]] on Kelleys Island. By the early 20th century, the island was annually producing 500,000 gallons of wine per year.<ref name="lei" />

The small village grew quickly, and soon a [[library]] and [[post office]] were erected. In 1901, the Estes [[School]]house was built at a cost of $15,000.<ref name="lei" />

===Recent history and modern day===
Kelleys Island is heavily forested except for several [[residential]] 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]] festival, which includes a theme [[parade]] featuring both locals and vacationers, a [[picnic]], and a number of food and craft booths.<ref name="pch">''Port Clinton Herald'' article: "[http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/article/20100716/NEWS01/7160309 Sports take spotlight at Kelleys Island homecoming]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}."</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=News Briefs: Kelleys Island Homecoming set for weekend |url=https://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/2019/08/05/news-briefs-kelleys-island-homecoming-set-weekend/1920074001/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |website=The News-Messenger |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Alvar4.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Alvar]] habitat on Kelleys Island. [[South Bass Island]] visible in distance.]]

Kelleys Island has a [[cemetery]] located on Division Street, about a mile north from the center of downtown.<ref name="cemetery">USGenWeb Archives Special Projects: [http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/erie/cemetery/kelleys.txt Kelleys Island cemetery information].</ref> Although the cemetery is relatively small, several hundred people are buried or have memorial headstones there.<ref name="cemetery" /> Burials include that of Datus Kelley.<ref>Kelleys Island Historical Society page for [http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_people/datus_kelley.htm Datus Kelley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509142352/http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_people/datus_kelley.htm |date=May 9, 2008 }}.</ref>

In 1975, {{convert|23|acre}} on the island's southern shore were designated as a [[historic district (United States)|historic district]], the Kelleys Island South Shore District, and added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. In 1988, the district was renamed to the Kelleys Island Historic District and expanded to include the entire island.<ref name=nris />{{cref|a}}

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 Island|Middle Bass]], [[South Bass Island|South Bass]], and [[Pelee Island|Pelee]] as well as Lake Michigan's [[Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)|Beaver]] and [[Washington Island (Wisconsin)|Washington]] Islands, Lake Ontario's [[Amherst Island|Amherst]], [[Howe Island|Howe]], [[Simcoe Island|Simcoe]], and [[Wolfe Island (Ontario)|Wolfe]] Islands, Lake Huron's [[Bois Blanc Island (Michigan)|Bois Blanc]], [[Drummond Island|Drummond]], [[Les Cheneaux Islands|Les Cheneaux]], [[Mackinac Island|Mackinac]], [[Manitoulin Island|Manitoulin]], [[Neebish Island|Neebish]], [[St. Joseph Island (Ontario)|St. Joseph]], and [[Sugar Island (Michigan)|Sugar]] Islands, Lake Superior's [[Madeline Island]], and Lake St. Clair's [[Harsens Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Lakes Islands Alliance |url=https://glialliance.org/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |website=Great Lakes Islands Alliance |language=en-US}}</ref>