Blennerhassett Island is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

on the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

below the mouth of the

Little Kanawha River The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Vir ...

, near Parkersburg in Wood County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. Historically, Blennerhassett Island was occupied by Native Americans. Nemacolin, chief of the

Delaware Nation The Delaware Nation (), based in Anadarko, OklahomaDe ...

, made it his last home, dying in 1767. European Americans knew it as Backus Island, named for Elijah Backus, who purchased it in 1792 in the wave of westward settlement following the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. In 1798, Harman Blennerhassett, a figure in the

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

"treason" conspiracy, purchased the east end of the island with his wife Margaret Agnew and it became known by their name.Gibbens, Alvaro F., ''Historic Blennerhassett Island Home'', Global Printing and Binding Co., Parkersburg, WV 1914. Their residence, Blennerhassett House, where Burr and Blennerhassett are alleged to have plotted

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

against the United States in the

Burr Conspiracy The Burr conspiracy of 1805-1807, was a treasonous plot alleged to have been planned by American politician and former military officer Aaron Burr (1756-1836), in the years during and after his single term as the third Vice President of the Unite ...

, burned to the ground in 1811. That area has been designated the Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park and the island was named for him.

References

External links

Official Blennerhassett Island State Park Homepage
Islands of Wood County, West Virginia Islands of the Ohio River River islands of West Virginia Blennerhassett family Burr conspiracy {{WoodCountyWV-geo-stub

See also

References

External links