Kelleys Island, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Kelleys Island is both a village in Erie County
, Ohio
, United States
, and the island
which it fully occupies in Lake Erie
. Originally known as Island Number 6 and later Cunningham Island, it was renamed in 1840 for brothers Datus and Irad Kelley, who were largely responsible for cultivatating the island's quarrying, logging
and winemaking
industries.
Originally inhabited by Native American
s, Kelleys Island was used by the US Military as a rendezvous post during The War of 1812. During the early 19th century, several different groups made ill-fated attempts to harvest the island's limestone
and lumber
resources; none were successful until the Kelley brothers made their attempt in the 1830s. The island's population has slowly grown since that point, with the 2000 census reporting the village's total permanent population as 367.
Today, Kelleys Island is primarily a vacation destination, and sees thousands of visitors each summer. Notable attractions include its various beaches, parks, and campgrounds. Several ferries
provide regular transport 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
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
limestone ridge carved around 10,000 B.C. during the Pleistocene
era. The first known inhabitants of Kelleys Island were either Erie, Cat, or Neutral Native Americans
who lived in the area dating back to around the 17th century.
On the south shore of the island near what is now downtown, there is a large limestone rock that features pictographs drawn over a number of years by these early settlers. White settlers in the mid-19th century named the piece Inscription Rock. The Kelleys Island Historical Society believes that the carvings date to roughly 1643, and that the rock was used by the Native Americans to impart information to one another about how the hunting had been in the area, and where their group would next be traveling to.
Many different items and scenes are cut into the large flat top side of the rock, which measures 32 feet (9.8 m) by 21 feet (10 by 6 m). Over time, the elements have worn down much of what was originally inscribed on the rock. The people inhabiting the island were largely annihilated by the Iroquois
around 1665.
did a geological survey of the Lake Erie area, and named the land mass "Island Number 6".
The first white man known to have lived on the island was a French
pioneer
known only as "Cunningham". He 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 native people: he built a log cabin
near their village, socialized with their hunters, and traded goods with them on a regular basis. At some point, Cunningham had a disagreement with the Native Americans, and a group of them tore down his home, stole all his possessions, and attempted to kill him. He escaped to the Ohio Peninsula via canoe
, but died shortly afterwards as a result of his wounds. For many years after his death, the island was known as Cunningham Island.
Over the next decade, several other white adventurers attempted to explore the island, all of them eventually being driven away by the native people. During the War of 1812, the west shore of Cunningham Island was made a military rendezvous post by General William Henry Harrison
. Shortly after the war ended, the Native Americans finally abandoned the island. 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, approximately six families made up its entire population.
Around 1833, a French-Canadian veteran of the War of 1812 named Ben Napier attempted to appropriate Cunningham Island and nearby Put-in-Bay
as his own through squatters rights. He and his associates terrorized the families living in the area, hijacked their cabins, and killed their livestock. Napier was eventually legally ousted after it was realized that he did not legitimately own the land.
. They built a dock its north side in order to ship the rock to the American mainland. Shortly afterwards, 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
on April 24, 1788 and October 24, 1791, respectively. Datus moved to Rocky River, Ohio
in 1811, working as a surveyor
and sawmill owner. Irad moved to Cleveland, Ohio
in 1812, eventually becoming a successful merchant, postmaster
, 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
from Detroit to his shop in Cleveland. 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 3000 acres (12.1 km²) island, and in 1840 changed its name to Kelleys Island. By this time, the population had risen to 68 people.
The brothers quickly began improving and expanding the island's docks to export limestone, fruit, and red cedar
lumber. Soon, 16 limestone kiln
s were producing 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. Among the nationalities working on the island at that time were Poles
, Slavs, Macedonian
s, Hungarians, Bulgarians
, Italians and Portuguese
. Datus Kelley encouraged sobriety
, and paid his employees bonuses for abstaining from "intoxifying liquors".
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.
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.
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.
festival, and includes a theme parade
featuring both locals and vacationers, a picnic
, and a number of food and craft booths.
Kelleys Island has a cemetery
located on Division Street, about a mile north from the center of downtown. Although the cemetery is relatively small, several hundred people are buried or have memorial headstones there. Burials there include that of Datus Kelley, an early developer of the area and one of the island's namesakes.
In 1975, 23 acres (9.3 ha) on the island's southern shore were designated a 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.
On August 19, 2010, three downtown businesses on Division Street were destroyed after a fire started in the attic of the Country Store. The fire quickly spread from the convenience store
where it began to the businesses that it shared the building complex with, Papa T's Ice Cream Shop and Vi's Island Treasures. The vinyl siding
of the neighboring Island House restaurant partially melted during the incident. The Country Store had closed following the summer of 2009, and was vacant at the time of the fire; an Ohio state fire marshal
later ruled the blaze had started after a work lamp was left on in the vacant grocery shop's attic. The Kelleys Island Volunteer Fire Department of 12 people took approximately 15 minutes to arrive on the scene. 15 to 20 additional firefighters were also dispatched from the mainland. No one was injured during the fire; the entire building was raze
d shortly afterward.
Kelleys Island features a number of public beaches. Many areas allow swimming, boating
, and fishing
.
In August 2010, a report from The Nature Conservancy in conjunction with the US Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and several other non-profit agencies listed Kelleys as the 7th most ecologically threatened island in the Great Lakes. 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."
and restaurant
s, almost all of which close for the winter season in September and reopen around May. The island also features a coffee shop
, miniature golf course
, several small general
/convenience store
s, and a large number of gift shop
s. No liquor 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, originally one of the largest wineries in the U.S., established in 1872. It stopped operation after two major fires eventually destroyed its facility during prohibition. The ruins of the original winery are still standing on the island. The Zettler family re-established The Kelley's Island Wine in 1982 at the site of one of the oldest stone cottages on the island, known as the Nicholas Smith house (built c. 1865). Kirt and Robby Zettler continue to operate it as a working winery and tourist attraction.
to the island's East Harbor State Park
. At their peak, the company contained a fleet of three boats: the Commuter, the Kelleys Islander, and the Endeavor. The company folded in the first decade of the 21st century.
Currently, the Kelleys Island Ferry is the only line that runs year-round (weather permitting) between the island and the mainland. The boat line is owned by James "Jim" Palladino and his family. In the past, Palladino has been tied to the Cleveland Mafia
. After the Neuman Ferry line closed, Palladino purchased several boats from the company, as well their dock on the island. The private ferry runs to Marblehead, Ohio
every half hour during the tourist season, with the ride lasting approximately 25 minutes.
A competing ferry line named the Jet Express runs many times daily from Sandusky to Kelleys Island. The boat line started in 1988, and only runs during the summer months. The Jet Express boat takes approximately 20 minutes for the trip from Sandusky.
, called the Kelleys Island Land Field Airport. It features a terminal building, a single runway
, and a parking area for planes.
Kelleys Island is located at 41°36′5"N 82°41′51"W (41.601343, -82.697442).
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), of which, 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.30%) is water.
of Kelleys Island is the Devonian
Columbus Limestone
, a fossil
iferous formation that is quarried on the island for building stone and other uses.
On the northern side, Kelleys Island State Park
offers camping and protects the Glacial Grooves State Memorial and the North Shore Alvar
State Nature Preserve. The glacial striations
puts Kelleys in mild fame as inside are the largest and most easily accessible remains of glacial grooves in the world.
of 2000, there were 367 people, 183 households, and 112 families residing in the village. The population density
was 80.5 people per square mile (31.1/km²). There were 709 housing units at an average density of 155.5 per square mile (60.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.46% White, 0.27% African American, 0.27% from other races
. Hispanic 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 married couples
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
for the village was $21,944. About 7.6% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over.
Erie County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 79,551 people, 31,727 households, and 21,764 families residing in the county. The population density was 312 people per square mile . There were 35,909 housing units at an average density of 141 per square mile...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
which it fully occupies in Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. Originally known as Island Number 6 and later Cunningham Island, it was renamed in 1840 for brothers Datus and Irad Kelley, who were largely responsible for cultivatating the island's quarrying, logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
industries.
Originally inhabited by Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s, Kelleys Island was used by the US Military as a rendezvous post during The War of 1812. During the early 19th century, several different groups made ill-fated attempts to harvest the island's limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
resources; none were successful until the Kelley brothers made their attempt in the 1830s. The island's population has slowly grown since that point, with the 2000 census reporting the village's total permanent population as 367.
Today, Kelleys Island is primarily a vacation destination, and sees thousands of visitors each summer. Notable attractions include its various beaches, parks, and campgrounds. Several ferries
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
provide regular transport for most travelers; the island also features a number of marina
Marina
A marina 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 from freighters....
s, as well as a small airfield for private planes. It is the largest of the American Lake Erie Islands
Lake Erie Islands
The Lake Erie Islands are a chain of archipelagic islands in Lake Erie. They include Kelleys Island, Pelee Island, the Bass Islands, and several others. The majority of these islands are under the sovereignty of Ohio in the United States. Pelee Island is the only major island administered by...
, and is a part of the Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County. It is located in northern Ohio and is situated on the shores of Lake Erie, almost exactly half-way between Toledo to the west and Cleveland to the east....
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Native Americans and Inscription Rock
Kelleys Island is a remnant of a DevonianDevonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
limestone ridge carved around 10,000 B.C. during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
era. The first known inhabitants of Kelleys Island were either Erie, Cat, or Neutral Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who lived in the area dating back to around the 17th century.
On the south shore of the island near what is now downtown, there is a large limestone rock that features pictographs drawn over a number of years by these early settlers. White settlers in the mid-19th century named the piece Inscription Rock. The Kelleys Island Historical Society believes that the carvings date to roughly 1643, and that the rock was used by the Native Americans to impart information to one another about how the hunting had been in the area, and where their group would next be traveling to.
Many different items and scenes are cut into the large flat top side of the rock, which measures 32 feet (9.8 m) by 21 feet (10 by 6 m). Over time, the elements have worn down much of what was originally inscribed on the rock. The people inhabiting the island were largely annihilated by the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
around 1665.
Early white settlers
In the late 18th century, the Connecticut Land CompanyConnecticut Land Company
The Connecticut Land Company was formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the Connecticut Western Reserve, part of the Old Northwest Territory. The Western Reserve is located in Northeast Ohio with its hub being Cleveland. In 1795, the Connecticut Land Company...
did a geological survey of the Lake Erie area, and named the land mass "Island Number 6".
The first white man known to have lived on the island was a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
pioneer
American pioneer
American pioneers are any of the people in American history who migrated west to join in settling and developing new areas. The term especially refers to those who were going to settle any territory which had previously not been settled or developed by European or American society, although the...
known only as "Cunningham". He 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 native people: he built a log cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
near their village, socialized with their hunters, and traded goods with them on a regular basis. At some point, Cunningham had a disagreement with the Native Americans, and a group of them tore down his home, stole all his possessions, and attempted to kill him. He escaped to the Ohio Peninsula via canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
, but died shortly afterwards as a result of his wounds. For many years after his death, the island was known as Cunningham Island.
Over the next decade, several other white adventurers attempted to explore the island, all of them eventually being driven away by the native people. During the War of 1812, the west shore of Cunningham Island was made a military rendezvous post by General William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
. Shortly after the war ended, the Native Americans finally abandoned the island. 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, approximately six families made up its entire population.
Around 1833, a French-Canadian veteran of the War of 1812 named Ben Napier attempted to appropriate Cunningham Island and nearby Put-in-Bay
Put-in-Bay, Ohio
Put-in-Bay is a village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Many believe that the name originates from some early maps of South Bass Island that showed the harbor being named Pudding Bay, probably because it was shaped like a pudding sack. The...
as his own through squatters rights. He and his associates terrorized the families living in the area, hijacked their cabins, and killed their livestock. Napier was eventually legally ousted after it was realized that he did not legitimately own the land.
Acquisition by the Kelleys
In 1830, John Clemons and his brother began mining the island's limestone, and opened its first quarryQuarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
. They built a dock its north side in order to ship the rock to the American mainland. Shortly afterwards, 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, Connecticut
Middlefield is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,203 at the 2000 census. The town includes the village of Rockfall-History:...
on April 24, 1788 and October 24, 1791, respectively. Datus moved to Rocky River, Ohio
Rocky River, Ohio
Rocky River is an affluent western suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, United States located in Cuyahoga County approximately nine miles west of Public Square in downtown Cleveland. The city is named for the river that forms its eastern border...
in 1811, working as a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and sawmill owner. Irad moved to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
in 1812, eventually becoming a successful merchant, postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
, sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
, and real-estate investor. Irad Kelley first became aware of the island after being forced to seek shelter there while transporting goods via sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
from Detroit to his shop in Cleveland. 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 3000 acres (12.1 km²) island, and in 1840 changed its name to Kelleys Island. By this time, the population had risen to 68 people.
The brothers quickly began improving and expanding the island's docks to export limestone, fruit, and red cedar
Juniperus virginiana
Juniperus virginiana is a species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains...
lumber. Soon, 16 limestone kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s were producing lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
. 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 Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, Slavs, Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
s, Hungarians, Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
, Italians and Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
. Datus Kelley encouraged sobriety
Sobriety
Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels, or effects from, alcohol or other drugs that alter ones mood or behaviors. According to WHO "Lexicon of alcohol and drug terms..." sobriety is continued abstinence from alcohol and psychoactive drug use...
, and paid his employees bonuses for abstaining from "intoxifying liquors".
In 1842, Charles Carpenter (son-in-law of Datus Kelley) of Norwich, Connecticut
Norwich, Connecticut
Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...
began growing and harvesting grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s for wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
on Kelleys Island; by the early 20th century, the island was annually producing 500,000 gallons of wine per year.
The quarries were the origin of the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company
Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company
Formed in 1886 on the Lake Erie Island of Kelley's Island, Ohio, the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company was also known by its initials, KIL&T. It was once the world's largest producer of limestone and lime. The firm began quarry operations on Kelley's Island in 1886 and was dissolved in the...
, 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.
The small village grew quickly, and soon a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
were erected. In 1901, the Estes School
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
house was built at a cost of $15,000.
Recent history and modern day
Kelleys Island is heavily forested among several residential areas, some for year-round residents, others for summer vacationers. Some small farms and a small limestone quarrying operation exist on the island. Each Summer since 1974 (typically in August), the island hosts a weekend-long homecomingHomecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
festival, and includes a theme parade
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 celebrations of some kind...
featuring both locals and vacationers, a picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
, and a number of food and craft booths.
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
located on Division Street, about a mile north from the center of downtown. Although the cemetery is relatively small, several hundred people are buried or have memorial headstones there. Burials there include that of Datus Kelley, an early developer of the area and one of the island's namesakes.
In 1975, 23 acres (9.3 ha) on the island's southern shore were designated a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
, the Kelleys Island South Shore District, and added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. In 1988, the district was renamed to the Kelleys Island Historic District and expanded to include the entire island.
On August 19, 2010, three downtown businesses on Division Street were destroyed after a fire started in the attic of the Country Store. The fire quickly spread from the convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
where it began to the businesses that it shared the building complex with, Papa T's Ice Cream Shop and Vi's Island Treasures. The vinyl siding
Vinyl siding
Vinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum or fiber cement siding. It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving...
of the neighboring Island House restaurant partially melted during the incident. The Country Store had closed following the summer of 2009, and was vacant at the time of the fire; an Ohio state fire marshal
Fire Marshal
A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a fire department but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually include fire code enforcement and/or investigating fires for origin and cause...
later ruled the blaze had started after a work lamp was left on in the vacant grocery shop's attic. The Kelleys Island Volunteer Fire Department of 12 people took approximately 15 minutes to arrive on the scene. 15 to 20 additional firefighters were also dispatched from the mainland. No one was injured during the fire; the entire building was raze
Raze
Raze may refer to:* Demolition* Raze, Haute-Saône, a town in France* Raze * Raze * Raze , a fictional character in the Underworld films* Raze , a made for TV film aired on syfy...
d shortly afterward.
Beaches and wildlife
Boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...
, and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
.
In August 2010, a report from The Nature Conservancy in conjunction with the US Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and several other non-profit agencies listed Kelleys as the 7th most ecologically threatened island in the Great Lakes. 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 pubsBar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
and restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, almost all of which close for the winter season in September and reopen around May. The island also features a coffee shop
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
, miniature golf course
Miniature golf
Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...
, several small general
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
/convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s, and a large number of gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....
s. No liquor is sold on the island outside of bars or restaurants, but several shops do sell beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
.
The island is also home to The Kelley's Island Wine Company, originally one of the largest wineries in the U.S., established in 1872. It stopped operation after two major fires eventually destroyed its facility during prohibition. The ruins of the original winery are still standing on the island. The Zettler family re-established The Kelley's Island Wine in 1982 at the site of one of the oldest stone cottages on the island, known as the Nicholas Smith house (built c. 1865). Kirt and Robby Zettler continue to operate it as a working winery and tourist attraction.
Camps
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 to be the site of a faith-based summer camp for youth. A chapel was built in 1959 and a pool was added in 1968. 20 new cabins were also built for campers. Camp Patmos has added many more buildings and programs since then including a rec center, a 200 feet (61 m) dock, pophouse, guest cabins and continues to run Christian summer camp and retreat programs for youth from 4th thru 12th grade. The Erie County 4H Camp is located on the north side of the island.Ferries
The first ferry to regularly service the island was the Neuman Ferry, founded in 1907 by John Paul Neuman. The boat originally provided transport from Lakeside, OhioLakeside, Ohio
Lakeside is a private community and census-designated place in northern Ohio, United States, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was formed in 1873 by members of the Methodist Church and remains a church-affiliated vacation resort. It is one of only a few continuously operating Independent Chautauquas...
to the island's East Harbor State Park
East Harbor State Park
East Harbor State Park is located on the shores of Lake Erie. This park includes a beach area, campground, marina, and wetland wildlife preserve areas.-Trails:...
. At their peak, the company contained a fleet of three boats: the Commuter, the Kelleys Islander, and the Endeavor. The company folded in the first decade of the 21st century.
Currently, the Kelleys Island Ferry is the only line that runs year-round (weather permitting) between the island and the mainland. The boat line is owned by James "Jim" Palladino and his family. In the past, Palladino has been tied to the Cleveland Mafia
Cleveland Mafia
The Cleveland crime family, also known as the Cleveland Mafia or Licavoli crime family, is a crime syndicate that is part of the phenomenon known as the American Mafia or Cosa Nostra...
. After the Neuman Ferry line closed, Palladino purchased several boats from the company, as well their dock on the island. The private ferry runs to Marblehead, Ohio
Marblehead, Ohio
Marblehead is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 762 at the 2000 census.It sits at the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, which divides Lake Erie proper from Sandusky Bay...
every half hour during the tourist season, with the ride lasting approximately 25 minutes.
A competing ferry line named the Jet Express runs many times daily from Sandusky to Kelleys Island. The boat line started in 1988, and only runs during the summer months. The Jet Express boat takes approximately 20 minutes for the trip from Sandusky.
Air
The north side contains a small public airportAirport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
, called the Kelleys Island Land Field Airport. It features a terminal building, a single runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
, and a parking area for planes.
Other
Due to the its small size, many people use bicycles, golf carts and motor scooters as their regular transportation while on the island. 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
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), of which, 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.30%) is water.
Geology
The bedrockBedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
of Kelleys Island is the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
Columbus Limestone
Columbus Limestone
The Columbus Limestone is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of fossiliferous limestone, and it occurs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the United States, and in Ontario, Canada.-Stratigraphy:...
, a fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
iferous formation that is quarried on the island for building stone and other uses.
On the northern side, Kelleys Island State Park
Kelleys Island State Park
Kelleys Island State Park is a Ohio, United States, state park that makes up almost all of the northern third of Kelleys Island in Lake Erie. The park offers of hiking, ruins of lime kilns and quarrying operations, a sand beach and a campground...
offers camping and protects the Glacial Grooves State Memorial and the North Shore Alvar
Alvar
An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse vegetation. It is also known as a pavement barren although this term is also used for similar landforms based on sandstone. In the United Kingdom the exposed landform is called a limestone...
State Nature Preserve. The glacial striations
Glacial striations
Glacial striations or glacial grooves are scratches or gouges cut into bedrock by process of glacial abrasion. Glacial striations usually occur as multiple straight, parallel grooves representing the movement of the sediment-loaded base of the glacier...
puts Kelleys in mild fame as inside are the largest and most easily accessible remains of glacial grooves in the world.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 367 people, 183 households, and 112 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 80.5 people per square mile (31.1/km²). There were 709 housing units at an average density of 155.5 per square mile (60.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.46% White, 0.27% African American, 0.27% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
. Hispanic 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 married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
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
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $21,944. About 7.6% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over.
External links
- Kelleys Island Chamber of Commerce
- Kelleys Island Historical Society
- Kelleys Island at TripAdvisorTripAdvisorTripAdvisor.com is a travel website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums. It is part of the TripAdvisor Media Group, operated by Expedia, Inc. TripAdvisor is a pioneer of...
- Kelleys Island at WikiTravelWikitravel-External links:* *...
- Kelleys Island Land Field Airport at AirNav