Johnson's Island
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Johnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort Site
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The cemetery at Johnson's Island
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| Location | Marblehead, Ohio |
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| Coordinates | 41°29′47″N 82°43′55″W / 41.4964°N 82.7319°W |
| Built | 1862 |
| Architect | Hoffman,Col. William H.; Et al. |
| NRHP Reference # | 75001514 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 27, 1975 |
| Designated NHL | June 21, 1990 |
Johnson's Island is a 300-acre (120 ha) island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, 3 miles (4.8 km) from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Johnson's Island was the only Union prison exclusively for Southern officers but, it also held regular soldiers . Civilians who were arrested as guerrillas, or bushwhackers, were also imprisoned on the island. During its three years of operation, more than 15,000 men were incarcerated there.
The island is named after L. B. Johnson, the owner of the island beginning about 1852. It was originally named 'Bull's Island' by its first owner, Epaphras* W. Bull, about 1809. [*- later misspelled "Epaproditus" Bull, by local-historians.]
In late 1861, Federal officials selected Johnson’s Island as the site for a prisoner of war camp to hold up to 2,500 captured Confederate officers. The island offered easy access by ship for supplies to construct and maintain a prison and its population. Sandusky Bay offered more protection from the elements than on other nearby islands, which were also closer to Canada in the event of a prison break. Woods of hickory and oak trees could provide lumber and fuel. The U.S. government leased half the island from private owner Leonard B. Johnson for $500 a year, and for the duration of the war carefully controlled access to the island.
The 16.5-acre (66,773.1 m2) prison opened in April 1862. A 15-foot-high (5 m) wooden surrounded 12 two-story prisoner housing barracks, a hospital, latrines, sutler’s stand, three wells, a pest house, and two large mess halls (added in August 1864). More than 40 buildings stood outside the prison walls, including barns, stables, a limekiln, forts, barracks for officers, and a powder magazine. They were used by the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which guarded the prison.
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