Put-in-Bay 49th Founders Day Celebration Coming Up

Put-in-Bay and neighboring islands celebrate the 49th Founders Day event honoring Joseph de Rivera on Saturday, 10 June 2023.  Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial will display historic weapons, including black powder muskets, rifles, and.a short, smoothbore cast-iron cannon called carronade.  Demonstrations take place at 11am, noon, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, and 5pm.

Between 1820 and 1830, South Bass Island was under the jurisdiction of Huron County, Ohio; it was later joined to Ottawa County, Ohio.  In 1854, sugar and wine merchant Joseph de Rivera moved his family, three daughters and three sons (Josephine, Belle, Annie, Henry, Thomas, John) to Ohio.

According historical accounts published by the Historical Marker Database, de Rivera bought South Bass, Middle Bass, Sugar, Gibraltar, Ballast and Starve Islands. He hired a county engineer to survey the area in 10-acre lots and encouraged settlement by helping German immigrants purchase land to plant vineyards.  There was no actual village prior to the creation of the township in 1861.  The portion of South Bass Island known as Village of Put-in-Bay incorporated in 1877.

For additional historical information visit Put-in-Bay History Lives on the Internet Archive and Rare Otto Herbster Put-in-Bay Panoramic Photos Uncovered.