Kelleys Island History Blog

In an earlier Blog post we noted that our opening day was June 26, 2010. So why does the cornerstone of the building say 2005? The Kelleys Island Historical Assoc. was formed in 1980. It was obvious that we needed a museum so we cleared out the stone church and move some of our more interesting items in. This was a tight fit since one-half of the space was also our gift shop. Back in those days, our logo was our letterhead. Not the best quality but it did the job. We didn’t even put our address on our letters! Next came our brochure. We still featured the church since that was the cornerstone of our organization, but we were looking to the future. This was the first step in raising funds for the new museum. " What's past is prologue " is a quotation from the play  The Tempest by William Shakespeare. The phrase was originally used to suggest that all that has happened before that time, the "past," has led what someone was about to do: commit or make another choi...

  BASE BALL RULES OF 1860 It was noted that the old rules of base ball were quite different than today’s rules, but many of the Customs remained the same. These Rules and Customs came from the Rules and Regulations of the Game of Base Ball Adopted by the National Association of Base-Ball Players March 14, 1860: The ball is pitched underhanded from anywhere behind the pitcher's line. The batsman must stand on or straddle a line through home plate. The pitcher must deliver the ball as requested by the batsman, who holds out the bat to indicate where the ball is to be sent. Pitches are not judged as balls or strikes, but the umpire may call a strike if the batsman persists in not swinging at well-pitched balls. The ball is judged fair or foul according to where it first touches the ground (people, structures, and trees don't count as the ground). Articles of clothing such as a hat or mittens may not be used to catch a ball. An out is declared if: A hit ball is caught on the fly ...

  This is one of the first references to baseball on Kelley’s Island. While organized baseball had been around for several years, 1869 marked the first year that a recognized all-professional baseball team took the field. An Ohio team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was the first team to be openly paid a salary. They closed the 1869 season with a record 65 wins and no losses. This Ohio team fired up the baseball spirit of the islanders. January 1869 - “A few thoughts concerning Base Ball – The great game of American base ball has been having a ‘great run’ throughout the United States, ever since the greater excitement of the late war has terminated, say since or within the last three years. The ‘fever’ has not, until the present winter, reached the Island but it is now here in its most virulent form and the probabilities are that the Doctor will have all she can attend to unless those liable to be taken, exercise a great deal of caution during its prevalence. All the preliminary s...

The Village maintains two parks (the park downtown and the one on Addison Rd..) and several recreation areas. Recently, the Kelleys Island Park Board officially named the Addison Road park the Kelleys Island Community Park. In looking back, this park has been a big part of our community history. This year the KI History Museum has been posting articles from the 1950s, and this one brought up a lot of memories. Several years ago, the Kelleys Island Landowners Assoc. moved its Homecoming event to this park (it used to be downtown). What a great move. There was more space, a pavilion with picnic tables, a water faucet and a big area for tents and games. But, what’s a park without a safe, fun place for children to play? The equipment was old with just a really tall slide and a few swings. The merry-go-round (now called meat grinders) had already been removed. None of the equipment met safety standards. It was time for an upgrade, but it would literally take a village to make it happen....

LOOKING BACK - May 1925 – From the Erie Echo (a small newspaper that was published for all the schools in Erie Co.), the column was called Kelleys Island Ramblings. By Leslie Korenko Kelley’s Island’s Greatest Industry - The Kelley’s Island Lime & Transport Co. is our greatest industry.   At present this company employees 125 men and its average by-weekly pay roll is $7,700 or enough to give every man, woman and child on the Island approximately five dollars a week. Few realize, even including those who live on the Island, the value of this company. It can be seen from the above that almost one-fourth of the families living here are more or less dependent upon this company. The economic effect of one summer’s shut-down could easily be foretold. Yet, notwithstanding the above, the fact remains that it is a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The present state of depletion can not always continue. At present the surface of the Island is being stripped to a depth of eight or te...

Can you believe that it has already been 11 years since we opened the doors on the new museum? Read all about opening day and the move from the church to the new building as documented in our Fall 2010 newsletter. We bet you’ll recognize many of these names. The new museum and gift shop officially opened on June 26, 2010. Our hours of operation were from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. And we were, once again, able to run by an all-volunteer staff. Volunteers were recruited by Fran Minshall and worked the entire summer. The volunteers included: Pat Seeholzer, Leslie Korenko, Ed Frindt, Charlotte Halliwill, Knut Lahrs, Mary Ann Pileski, Carol Dodson, Shirley Crabill, Elsie Homegardner, Anne Eddowes, Fran Minshall, and Sharon Mclntire; along with substitute Lori Arnold. A huge thank you goes to all of these dedicated volunteers who made it possible for us to be open for the hundreds of interested islanders and island visitors to see our beautiful new museum, while learning about Kel...