Gibraltar Island

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Gibraltar Island supports the highest land elevation in the Put-In-Bay area. This allowed the island to become a lookout point for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the fight against the British during the War of 1812. Perry and his men defeated a fleet of British sailing vessels during the famous Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813. As a result, the lookout point on Gibraltar Island became known as Perry's Lookout.

In 1925, the island was sold to Julius Stone by the Cooke-Barney family, daughter and son-in-law to Jay Cooke. Julius Stone, an Ohio State University trustee at the time, donated the island to the Ohio State University to be used as a Lake Laboratory for the purpose of teaching, learning, and research. The Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory was built on the island in 1929, and was named in honor of Julius Stone's father. Today, Gibraltar Island continues to be the home of the Stone Laboratory, and is a place for freshwater research and teaching through The Ohio State University.

The little island of Gibraltar witnessed war and cannon fire early in the nineteenth century with Perry's battle. Later in the same century Cooke Castle was built, and although worn and weathered, this massive stone structure has survived to our present day. Gibraltar Island and everything on it was a gift from the past...from Julius Stone and his vision of a great research facility...to Jay Cooke and the stone masons who built the great castle with 19th century hands. The gift of Gibraltar Island will continue to benefit many generations well into the future.