The View From Here

South Bass Island lies to the west and has also been called Put-in-Bay for the harbor from which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry launched his successful naval battle against the British fleet under Robert H. Barclay during the War of 1812. This naval victory was a major turning point in the war and is commemorated by Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, a granite column rising 352 feet. To the north are Middle Bass and North Bass islands, and directly north is Kelleys Island. Seasonal ferry service transports tourists and island residents across the 3 nautical mile span. At Kelleys Island State Park, visitors can witness the Glacial Grooves, a 400 ft long trough deeply sculpted in the limestone bedrock by the force of the glacial ice that created the Great Lakes some 18,000 years ago. It is the largest easily accessible geologic formation of its type in the world and is a National Natural Landmark. Vestiges of the Kelleys Island Lime and Transport Company, once the largest producer of lime in the world, can also be seen on the north side of the island. The Lake Erie Islands have been referred to as the wine islands owing to highly profitable vineyard operations dating to the mid-1800s. The combination of limestone soil and lake climate favored the cultivation of grapes for wine. In the early 1900s, large passenger steamers plied the waters between the islands and mainland, and vacation resorts began a tourist industry that continues to flourish to this day.

Marblehead, Ohio · United States