North Bass Island

North Bass Island is an island of the U.S. state of Ohio located in Lake Erie.[1] A small unincorporated community, Isle Saint George, is on the island.[2] The North Bass Island Post Office was established on May 25, 1864, and the name changed to Isle Saint George Post Office on March 2, 1874.[3] The Isle Saint George ZIP code 43436 provides PO Box service.[4] The island is equidistant to Port Clinton, OH and Kingsport, Ontario, Canada[5]

North Bass Island as viewed from Middle Bass Island.
Map of the Bass Islands.
North Bass School built in 1952 includes a residence for the teacher was Ohio's last operating public one-room school.

The 688.6-acre (2.786 km²) island is one of few islands that has not been commercially developed. The state of Ohio purchased 589 acres (2.4 km²) of the island to preserve it from development and operates it as North Bass Island State Park.

Historically, North Bass was mainly used as a vineyard. According to the 2000 census the island had 13 permanent residents.[6] As of January 2007, there were roughly two dozen permanent residents residing on the island's 12 privately owned properties.[7]

North Bass Island Airport (FAA LID: 3X5) offers a 1,804 ft (549.9 m) paved airstrip.[8] Air traffic for take-off and landings to the north are complex as the Canadian border is challenging to avoid with less than two (2) miles from the runway threshold. The runway underwent significant improvement October 2019 with a $2.338 MM grant from the FAA, the first improvement since the runway was originally paved in 1995.[9] The runway is part of the Put-in-Bay Port Authority.

North Bass Island has no ferry service but has maintained a dock for commercial grape activity since 1880 with substantial improvements and additions as early as 1900. The most recent improvement to the dock to ensure that commercial vessels could still serve the island occurred in 2019. Nearly $500,000 worth of improvements were necessary just to make the dock operable.[10]

North Bass Island School is the state's last operating, public, one-room school.[11] The school is designated by the Ohio Legislature and approved by the Ohio Department of Education as a K-8 building; the only one-room schoolhouse an island in Ohio and the only other one-room schoolhouse in Ohio being located in College Corner.[12] High school students who reside on North Bass island fly to the mainland or another island. High school students have attended EHOVE Career Center, Put-in-Bay, Port Clinton, and Sandusky High School.[13] All of the current members of the Board of Education attended North Bass School.[14] Because there is no ferry service to the island and ice surrounds it for four (4) months per year school year, high school students fly to the airport closest to their school.

North Bass Island is the second largest and northernmost island of the Bass Islands; which are a part of the larger Lake Erie Islands archipelago. On the southwest corner of the island there is a small bay named Manila Bay and there is a small unnamed creek that protrudes from the bay. The island is part of Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio.

The island was part of a territorial border dispute between the United Kingdom in 1812[15] and a portion of the island was claimed by Ottawa Tribe of the Oklahoma in 2006.[16][17]

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Bass Island
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Isle Saint George
  3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Isle Saint George Post Office
  4. ZIP Code Lookup, United States Postal Service
  5. "North Bass Island State Park". parks.ohiodnr.gov. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  6. North Bass Island: Blocks 1075 thru 1082, Census Tract 501, Ottawa County, Ohio United States Census Bureau
  7. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/18406/default.aspx, Ohio Department of Natural Resources
  8. "North Bass Island". FAA. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  9. "Press Release – U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces $12.7 Million in Infrastructure Grants to 13 Airports in Ohio". www.faa.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  10. "Sandusky Register". www.sanduskyregister.com. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  11. "One-room school", Wikipedia, 2019-08-04, retrieved 2019-08-17
  12. "Union County–College Corner Joint School District", Wikipedia, 2019-07-24, retrieved 2019-08-17
  13. "Put-in-Bay students fly to school". WEWS. 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  14. "Elected Officials | Ottawa County". Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  15. "Battle of Lake Erie", Wikipedia, 2019-08-07, retrieved 2019-08-17
  16. Tucker, Patrick. "Land Claim on North Bass Island in Lake Erie by the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. "Ottawa tribe's claim to North Bass Island is rejected by Petro". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2019-08-17.

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