Johnson’s Island

Johnson’s Island

Johnson’s Island, originally Bull’s Island, is a 300-acre island located in the Sandusky Bay on the shores of Lake Erie. This island is the site of a former Prisoner of War Camp for Confederate officers, in operation for 40 months total in 1862 – 1865. In this time over 10,000 men passed through the prison doors, making this Ohio’s most significant Civil War Site.

The prison consisted of 12 prison blocks inside a stockade, with around 3,000 prisoners inside at any given time. The area was most formally named the ‘Depot of Prisoners of War’.

Just 1/2 mile north of the prison you will find the cemetery from the prison, this site one that you can actually visit today. Marble headstones replace old wooden crosses, and a bronze statue sits toward the front of the cemetery, placed here in 1910. There are a couple hundred men buried within its confines.

Johnson’s Island is mostly residential now, but in its past, it saw days as both a Pleasure Resort and Quarry Operation. Neither venture lasted too terribly long, though the history of both is still interesting.