Lake Erie Islands - Sketches and Stories

For those of us who know the area, the Lake Erie Islands are a beautiful and special place that can more than compete with any other islands as a place to live or visit. But much of their history has been difficult to find for a long time.

There are many wonderful stories and pictures about the history of Put-in-Bay, Middle Bass Island, North Bass Island, Pelee Island and Kelleys Island, as well as many of the smaller islands, that we have compiled into this volume. The first of six sections in the book includes all of Lydia Ryall’s 1913 Sketches and Stories of the Lake Erie Islands – Perry Centennial Edition 1813-1913. The other sections contain a wealth of additional information and pictures, some of which has never been published before. Many footnotes are provided to point out errors in the original material, and to provide interesting additional information. A publication of the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society, the book contains 266 pictures and is fully indexed.

Keeping the book interesting to read while also allowing it to be a good reference work has been of high priority. Many of the original pictures have been digitally cleaned up and enhanced, and the material has been carefully selected to be enjoyable to browse or read carefully. We believe that this is the most complete history of the Lake Erie Islands that has been published.

About the Editor:

Michael Gora operates the Middle Bass Island web site which has long been putting history of all the Lake Erie Islands on the Web. He also is the Middle Bass Island Historian for the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society. A long-time summer resident, he spent 92 days on Middle Bass in 2003 and his goal is to spend more time on the island every year. He focused for a long time on collecting history about the islands other than South Bass and Put-in-Bay, because many others were publishing about those areas but ignoring the rest of the islands. But he eventually expanded his collection to cover all of the islands. A retired software executive and former software engineer, he is the author of over 30 technical papers and 3 technical books, and has also produced several reprints of historical booklets about the Lake Erie Islands. Some of the relationships he developed through the web site contributed significantly to this book.

Reproduction without written permission is forbidden for any purposes other than personal use.

Revised: 18 Mar 2016 20:19:06.