Stony Island is an island in the

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

, in southeast

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It has been used for hunting and fishing as long as humans have inhabited the region; from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, it was the site of a small settlement and served as a central location for the construction of the Livingstone Channel, as well as various civil engineering projects involving the Detroit River. By the 1990s, it had become completely uninhabited; it is now open to the public and administered by the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan founded in 1921, charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appoint ...

Geography

250px, View of Stony Island from Grosse Ile in 2017 Stony Island's coordinates are and it is contained within Grosse Ile Township, in Wayne County. In the Detroit River, it is downstream of

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair () is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day they first saw the lake. ...

and upstream of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. Immediately to its west is the much-larger Grosse Ile, which is approximately away; it was once connected to Grosse Ile by a railroad bridge, which was demolished by 1912. Past Grosse Ile is

Trenton, Michigan Trenton is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County, Michigan, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city population was 18,853. A Shawnee village was built in the area by war chief Blue Jacket after the 1795 Tre ...

. To its east is the Livingstone Channel, approximately wide, across which lies Crystal Island. To the east of Crystal Island, across the Amherstburg Channel, is

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Bois Blanc Island is to the southeast; Powder House Island, Fox Island, Elba Island, and Sugar Island are to the southwest. Stony Island consists of a round, naturally-formed central hub, from which radiate numerous limestone pilings. These pilings were placed to form the edge of the Livingstone Channel, through which ships pass going south. The

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

(USGS) gave Stony Island's elevation as in 1980, and it has an area of approximately .

History

Stony Island was originally inhabited by the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

, Native Americans who hunted and fished there; in 1781, it was deeded to the Macomb family of Grosse Ile. It is shown, as "Stone Island", in an 1818 United States government survey by Joseph Fletcher and Edward Tiffin. It also appears on an 1855 map of the area, to the east of plots on Grosse Ile owned by John William and David Macomb. In the late 19th century, railroad tracks were constructed, connecting it to Grosse Ile as part of the Canada Southern Railroad's ferry crossing between the United States and Canada. This was meant to enable rail transport from the East Coast, through Ontario to the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

(with a ferry link from Amherstburg to Stony Island). This was completed by 1873. However, Canadian Southern experienced financial issues, and was purchased by Michigan Central in 1880, who ran ferries to Amherstburg directly from Detroit and "saw little need for" the line to Stony Island. Regular service was ended in 1883, and the line was shut down completely by 1888. By 1907, the bridge had been abandoned for "many years"; a public hearing was set for September 7 to address the issue of removing it as an "obstruction to navigation", and it had been removed by 1912. In the 1900s, the project to dredge and expand the Livingstone Channel for ship traffic began; Stony Island "grew into prominence almost in a night". Stony Island was "the base from which one of the most daring feats in engineering annals – the construction in midriver of a

cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...

a mile long and a sixth of a mile wide – was conducted". At the time, the cofferdam was "the largest ever constructed". By the 1920s, Dunbar & Sullivan was using the island as a central part of its dredging and excavation operations. Work was still going on "24 hours a day" by 1931. In later years, industrial activity died down, and residents left the island; the houses were demolished, but several abandoned structures were remaining in 1998. By the late 20th century, a single caretaker was its only inhabitant; Jack Mather, a retired sailor employed by Dunbar & Sullivan, lived in a two-room shack on a barge with his two dogs (Sweetheart and Bruiser). He lived on the island from 1977 until the company ceased operations in 1987. In 1994, the Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy began to pursue the island's acquisition. The island was eventually purchased by the State of Michigan in 1997, through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, for $750,000 (equivalent to $ in ). While the island is currently a part of Grosse Ile Township, it has no residents, and no utility companies provide service to it. As of 2015, Stony Island (as well as the nearby Celeron Island) was owned by the State of Michigan, and managed by the

' Wildlife Division. Most of Stony Island is part of the Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, and accessible to the public for hunting and camping, except for a small portion of north-south pilings on the northeast corner.

Ecology

The Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research described the Stony Island area as "a mix of upland, wetland, and swift-moving, shallow water", and said it was "one of the largest remaining wildlife habitat and fish spawning areas in the lower Detroit River". The "upland" area, consisting of approximately , contains various

old-growth An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

vegetation (including chinkapin oak, hackberry and cottonwood). Its waters are partially shielded by a limestone barrier, creating a shallow "bay" that more than 23 species of

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

have been found to use as a staging area during migration. Numerous types of fish

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

at the island; a 1982 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed: *

lake sturgeon The lake sturgeon (''Huso fulvescens''), also known as the rock sturgeon, is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of 27 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is a bottom feeder and has a partly cartilaginous skele ...

(''Acipenser fulvescens''), *

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

(''Coregonus clupeaformis''), *

rainbow smelt The rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax'') is a North American species of fish of the family (biology), family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile cisco (fish), ciscoes, zooplankton ...

(''Osmerus mordax''), *

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

(''Esox lucius''), *

muskellunge The muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), often shortened to muskie, musky, ski, or lunge, is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name ...

(''Esox masquinongy''), *

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

(''Cyprinus carpio''), *

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genus, genera of the family Cyprinidae and in particular the subfamily Leuciscinae. They are also known in Ireland as wikt:pinkeen, pinkeens. While ...

(''Minnow'' spp.), *

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

(''Ictalurus punctatus''), * bullhead (''Ameiurus'' spp.), *

white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12–15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with whit ...

(''Morone chrysops''), *

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

(''Micropterus dolomieui''), *

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

(''Perca flavescens''), *

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

(''Stizostedion vitreum vitreum''), * freshwater drum (''Aplodinotus grunniens''). Fishing at Stony Island "tends to focus on white bass, northern pike, and other species".

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web , url = https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/huntingwildlifehabitat/SGA/Pointe_Mouillee_SGA_map.pdf , title = Point Mouilee State Game Area: All Area, General Map, in Monroe and Wayne Counties , publisher = Michigan Department of Natural Resources , date = 1 April 2019 {{Cite web , url = https://www.lre.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/491179/channel-expansion-made-detroit-river-safer-for-mariners/ , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170118224535/http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/491179/channel-expansion-made-detroit-river-safer-for-mariners/ , url-status = dead , archive-date = January 18, 2017 , title = Channel expansion made Detroit River safer for mariners , date = 27 December 2012 , website = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District {{Cite web , last1 = Grosse Ile Open Space Greenways Committee , last2 = Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy , date = May 2015 , title = A Guide to the Natural Areas of Grosse Ile , url = https://www.grosseile.com/1512_Spreads.pdf , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 29 January 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210129093950/https://www.grosseile.com/1512_Spreads.pdf , url-status = live {{Cite news , date = 31 May 1931 , title = Rum Warfare Match of Wits , page = 24 , work = Detroit Free Press , url = https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98035508/ , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902020904/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98035508/ , url-status = live {{Cite news , date = 27 March 1910 , title = Breaking Records at Stony Island , page = 65 , work = Detroit Free Press , url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96515746/breaking-records-at-stony-island/ , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902015749/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/118664822/ , url-status = live {{Cite news , date = 2 September 1904 , title = Remove Old M.C. Bridge , page = 7 , work = Detroit Free Press , url = https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/118601811/ , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 3 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210903024721/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/118601811/ , url-status = live {{Cite web , title = Detroit Business & Manufacturing , url = http://genealogytrails.com/mich/wayne/businessdetroit.html , website = Genealogy Trails , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902010917/http://genealogytrails.com/mich/wayne/businessdetroit.html , url-status = live {{Cite map , url = https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4113w.la000363a/?r=0.486,0.636,0.162,0.147,0 , title = Map of Wayne County, Michigan: Exhibiting the names of the original purchases and the number of Acres in each tract excepting regular subdivisions of Perfect sections which contain 40, 80, 130, 180, 200, 240, or 280 &c Acres as the case may be , first = John , last = Farmer , year = 1855 , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902004834/https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4113w.la000363a/?r=0.486,0.636,0.162,0.147,0 , url-status = live {{Cite news , last = Bencsik , first = Michael , date = 19 January 1984 , title = Seaman relishes life on rusty river barge , url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89894769/seaman-relishes-life-on-rusty-river/ , page = 4A , work = Detroit Free Press {{Cite web , last1 = L.A. , first1 = Tulen , last2 = Hartig , first2 = J.H. , last3 = Dolan , first3 = D.M. , last4 = Ciborowski , first4 = J. , year = 1998 , title = Conserving Critical Habitats in the Conservation Crescent – The Stony Island Story , url = http://riccawu.mnsi.net/story3.html , website = Rehabilitating and Conserving Detroit River Habitats , publisher = Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research , access-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902000041/http://riccawu.mnsi.net/story3.html , url-status = live {{Cite web , last = Mazzella , first = Tony , title = The 'islands' of Grosse Ile all have stories to tell , url = https://trentontrib.com/tony-mazzellathe-islands-of-grosse-ile-all-have-stories-to-tell.html , website = Trenton Tribune , access-date = 1 September 2021 , archive-date = 2 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210902001206/https://trentontrib.com/tony-mazzellathe-islands-of-grosse-ile-all-have-stories-to-tell.html , url-status = live {{Cite web , date = September 1982 , title = Atlas of Spawning and Nursery Areas of Great Lakes Fishes: Volume VIII, Detroit River , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=krukyxxsGlEC&q=stony+island+ , publisher = U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services , via = Google Books , access-date = 1 September 2021 , archive-date = 1 September 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210901215609/https://books.google.com/books?id=krukyxxsGlEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=stony+island&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjql_yh297yAhV1JDQIHeiMASUQ6AEwAHoECB8QAg#v=onepage&q=stony+island+&f=false , url-status = live {{Cite web , title = The Detroit River , url = https://www.detroitrivercoalition.com/the-detroit-river , access-date = 20 May 2021 , website = Detroit River Coalition , archive-date = 21 May 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210521011319/https://www.detroitrivercoalition.com/the-detroit-river , url-status = live {{Gnis, 638909, Stony Island {{cite web , url = https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#14/42.1124/-83.1392 , title = Topography, State of Michigan: Wyandotte Quadrangle , first1 = H.M. , last1 = Wilson , first2 = Chas E. , last2 = Cooke , first3 = J.T. , last3 = McCoy , first4 = J.N. , last4 = Williamson , website = , publisher = United States Geological Survey , date = 1906 , access-date = 5 September 2021 {{cite web , url = https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#14/42.1124/-83.1392 , title = Topography, State of Michigan: Wyandotte Quadrangle , first1 = H.M. , last1 = Wilson , first2 = Chas E. , last2 = Cooke , first3 = J.T. , last3 = McCoy , first4 = J.N. , last4 = Williamson , website = , publisher = United States Geological Survey , date = 1912 , access-date = 5 September 2021 {{Cite map , author =

, title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Wyandotte Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{Cite map , author =

, title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Rockwood Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{Cite map , author =

, title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Wyandotte OE E Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{Cite map , author =

, title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Rockwood OE E Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{cite web , url = https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/survey/default.aspx?dm_id=26986&sid=nio4vjee.z5a&surveyDetailsTabIndex=1#surveyDetailsTabIndex=0 , title = Survey Details - BLM GLO Records , date = 1818-02-20 , first1 = Joseph , last1 = Fletcher , first2 = Edward , last2 = Tiffin , publisher = Bureau of Land Management {{cite web , url = http://detroit1701.org/Grosse%20Ile%20Depot,%20MCR.html , title = Grosse Ile Depot, Michigan Central Railroad , author1 = Walter Reynolds Farley , author2 = judym , website = Detroit 1701

External links

Stony Island, Detroit's Boat Graveyard
Islands of Wayne County, Michigan Islands of the Detroit River River islands of Michigan