Green Island is a small island of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, in Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

. It is located approximately three miles southwest of Put-in-Bay

Put-in-Bay, Ohio

Put-in-Bay is a village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Many believe that the name originates from some early maps of South Bass Island that showed the harbor being named Pudding Bay, probably because it was shaped like a pudding sack. The...

.

History

The U.S. Government bought Green Island in December 1851. A lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 was later constructed on the island in 1855. The most famous keeper of the lighthouse was Colonel Charles F. Drake, who lived on the island with his family until the lighthouse burned down on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

 in 1863. A new, two-story lighthouse was constructed on the island in 1864. It remained active until 1939, when the Coast Guard

Coast guard

A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...

 replaced it with a skeletal tower with an automated light on top. Green Island is currently a wildlife refuge, managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources was created in 1949 by the Ohio Legislature. It is a government agency in the U.S. state of Ohio charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, and recreation areas.Divisions of ODNR...

, and is no longer open to the public.