The Glaciers
When glaciers passed over the Great Lakes, they rolled over a massive block of Columbus Limestone that became known as Kelleys Island, carving magnificent grooves into the Island’s north side. Over the years, many grooves were uncovered only to be quarried away. However, in 1892, the Kelley’s Island Lime & Transport Co. set aside a small section of quarry land to preserve one of the last grooves. The Glacial Grooves are managed by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources for the Ohio History Connection and are located at the corner of Division Street and Titus Road.
Native Peoples and Inscription Rock
Native peoples also left their mark on the Island. While there were no year-round villages here, they had several established sites that they returned to in spring and fall to take advantage of the exceptional fishing in the area. At one time, there were two inscription rocks. The smaller one, in North Bay, has long since vanished. The larger one is on the south shore. In 1885, Addison Kelley and others filled in the carvings on this rock so they could be photographed for posterity, as they were already wearing away in the soft limestone. The Inscription Rock site is managed by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources for the Ohio History Connection and is located on the lakeshore just west of the ferry dock at the foot of Addison St.
Why “Kelley’s” Island?
Two brothers from a prominent Cleveland family, Datus and Irad Kelley, were looking for an investment opportunity and chose the Island because of its dense forest of red cedar, which was highly prized as steamboat fuel. Another attraction was the small quarry on the north side of the Island. In 1833, the brothers began purchasing all the parcels on the Island. At the time, the Island was casually known as Cunningham’s Island. The name Kelley’s Island was formalized when the Island became a township in 1840 and then a village in 1887. Common use has since dropped the apostrophe.
Some of our oldest houses.
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The Community Grew Quickly
Irad returned to Cleveland, while Datus and his wife Sara stayed on the Island and built a small, close community. In 1861, Datus and Sara paid to build a town hall, and on their 50th wedding anniversary they dedicated it to the community. Much of the Island’s history comes from the Islander, a hand-written newspaper published weekly each winter for 17 years. It contained family histories, reviews of plays and events, weddings, funerals, jokes, current events and wonderfully detailed essays about island life between 1861 and 1877. The paper was read and discussed each Saturday evening, with upwards of 300 people attending the meetings at Kelley’s Hall. The articles in the Islander can be found in a 6-book series of Island history books by Leslie Korenko.
Vineyards, Wine, Fishing & Quarries
As their Island family grew, the one-room schoolhouse became four school districts and, later, one large brick school. The Catholic church, once located in the Lange house, became the first of five churches to serve the Island. Islanders made their living by fishing (blue pike and whitefish) as pound nets, and later gill nets, peppered the lake. Multiple small quarries were combined until they became the Kelley’s Island Lime & Transport Co., one of the largest quarry operations in the United States. However, it was the grapes (Catawba, Niagara, Isabella) that made Kelleys Island wines famous, and massive stone wineries were built in the 1800s as their reputation grew.
Kelleys Island Today
The Kelley family’s legacy lives on in the stories and in the care given to our historic buildings and places. You can find our history in the cemetery and in the displays at the Kelleys Island History Museum. Want to learn more? Several books tell the Island’s story, and you can pick up almost every book written about the Island’s history in the museum gift shop.
Welcome to Kelleys Island! When you visit, take a close look around, because around every corner and behind every door, there is a little bit of Island history.