Blennerhassett Island
East end of Blennerhassett Island
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Ohio River, West Virginia |
| Coordinates | 39°16′16″N 81°37′32″W / 39.2711863°N 81.6256827°WCoordinates: 39°16′16″N 81°37′32″W / 39.2711863°N 81.6256827°W |
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Blennerhassett Island, an island on the Ohio River below the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, is located near Parkersburg in Wood County, West Virginia, USA.
Historically, Blennerhassett Island was occupied by American Indians. Nemacolin, chief of the Delaware Nation made it his last home, dying in 1767. European Americans knew it as Backus Island, naming it for Elijah Backus who purchased it in 1792 in the wave of westward settlement following the American Revolutionary War.
In 1798 Harman Blennerhassett, a figure in the Aaron Burr "treason" conspiracy, purchased the east end of the island with his wife Margaret Agnew and it became known by their name. Their residence, Blennerhassett House, where Burr and Blennerhassett are alleged to have plotted treason against the United States in the Burr Conspiracy, burned to the ground in 1811. That area has been designated the Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park and the island was named for him.
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