Rattlesnake Island (Lake Erie)

Rattlesnake Island is an 85-acre (34 ha) island located on Lake Erie near Put-In-Bay, 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Port Clinton, Ohio. It is part of Put-in-Bay Township, in Ottawa County. It is one of several islands known as the Lake Erie Islands. The name Rattlesnake comes both from the actual rattlesnakes that used to inhabit the island, as well as from the overall shape of the island (two small islets near the tip resemble a rattlesnake's rattle).

Legally, since colonial times, the Lake Erie Islands were part of the Firelands Section of the Connecticut Land Company's western reserve.

Put-in-Bay was a strategic location during the War of 1812, when Oliver Hazard Perry - Commodore of the United States fleet on Lake Erie - rendezvoused with General William Henry Harrison at Sandusky Bay, and following discussions concerning the upcoming campaign the commanders selected Put-in-Bay harbor for the American naval base. From this strategic location Perry was able to observe British fleet movements, and eventually engaged and defeated them. Perry's victory gave the Americans control of Lake Erie and a relative calm prevailed amongst the islands.

In 1854, Abigail Dunning of Hartford, Connecticut, sold Rattlesnake Island to Horace Kelley of Cleveland, Ohio. Soon thereafter, post offices were established on South Bass Island (1860), North Bass Island (1864), and Middle Bass Island (1864). Rattlesnake Island was largely uninhabited at the time and on June 22, 1861 Rattlesnake Island became a part of Put-In-Bay Township.

The modern history of Rattlesnake Island began with the purchase of the island about 1929 by Hubert D. Bennett, the owner of the Toledo Scale Company, who developed the island by putting in a lodge, harbor, and east-west landing strip. A second north-south landing strip was added in the 1950s by a Catholic order. In 1959, the island was sold to James P. Frackelton, M.D., a Cleveland surgeon and owner of the Cleveland Stamp and Coin Company, and Robert C. Schull, a stockbroker. Frackelton and Schull further developed the island, but economic and market conditions forced the sale of the island in 1989.

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