250px, View of Stony Island from Grosse Ile Stony Island in 1908

Stony Island is an island in the Detroit River, in southeast Michigan. 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.

Geography

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 (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) 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 ...

and upstream of Lake Erie. 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. 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, Ontario. Bois Blanc Island is to the southeast;

Powder House Island Powder House Island (also known as Dynamite Island) is an artificial island on the lower Detroit River in southeast Michigan, directly adjacent to the Canada–United States border. It was constructed in the late 1880s by the Dunbar & Sullivan ...

, Fox Island,

Elba Island Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...

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

History

USGS topographic map, Michigan, Wyandotte quadrangle (278613), 1906, 1-62500 (cropped to Stony Island)

Livingston Channel construction, 1900-1915

Stony Island was originally inhabited by the

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

, 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 The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 ...

's ferry crossing between the United States and Canada. 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 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 Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

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 Celeron Island is an island in the Detroit River. It is in Wayne County, in southeast Michigan, and the southernmost island within Grosse Ile Township. Its coordinates are , and the United States Geological Survey gave its elevation as in 1980 ...

) were owned by the State of Michigan, and managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' 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 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 have been found to use as a staging area during migration. Numerous types of fish spawn at the island; a 1982 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed: * lake sturgeon (''Acipenser fulvescens''), * lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis''), * rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax''), * northern pike (''Esox lucius''), * muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), *

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

(''Cyprinus carpio''), * minnow (Minnow spp.), *

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

(''Ictalurus punctatus''), * bullhead (''Ameiurus'' spp.), * white bass (''Morone chrysops''), * smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieui''), * yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), * walleye (''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/ , title = Channel expansion made Detroit River safer for mariners , date = 27 December 2012 , website = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District {{Cite web , last = 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 , last = L.A. , first = 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&printsec=frontcover&dq=stony+island&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjql_yh297yAhV1JDQIHeiMASUQ6AEwAHoECB8QAg#v=onepage&q=stony+island+&f=false , 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 = United States Geological Survey , title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Wyandotte Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{Cite map , author = United States Geological Survey , title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Rockwood Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{Cite map , author = United States Geological Survey , title = United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey , map = Wyandotte OE E Quadrangle, California , year = 2019 , scale = 1:24000 {{Cite map , author = United States Geological Survey , 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

External links

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