If you are planning on attending Riverfront Roar this weekend, you will be looking directly at Buckley Island, an important part of the valley’s history.

First commented on by George Washington on his surveying trip in 1770, Washington noted the general size of the island as he traveled down the river.

“Friday 26 … we encamped just above the mouth of a creek (later called the Little Muskingum) which appears pretty large at the mouth and just above an island (later called Buckley, among many names).

“Saturday 27 … Left our encampment a quarter before seven, and after passing the creek near which we lay, and another (Duck Creek) much the same size and on the same side; also an island [Buckley Island] about 2 miles in length but not wide, we came to the mouth of Muskingum distant from our encampment about 4 miles. This river is about 150 yards wide at the mouth; a gentle currant and clear stream runs out of it, and is navigable a great way into the country for canoes.”

Buckley Island has had many uses, and many names over years.

The island was frequently called by the name of whoever owned the island, so it has gone by Duvall, Meigs, Muskingum, Kerr’s, Marietta before being called Buckley Island.

During its long history is has been a premiere hunting location, an amusement park, several farms, a homestead, and even the site of illegal cock fighting. Today it is part of the Ohio River Island National Wildlife Refuge, one of 22 islands that make up the refuge along 362 miles of the upper Ohio. All the islands are reachable by boat and are open for the public to explore during daytime hours. For more details on the island today, See “Finding Refuge” on today’s Region Page.

The island, which today ends well upstream from the Williamstown Bridge, once ended nearer to the confluence with the Muskingum River. The Ohio was much shallower until modern dams were put in place and these dams have not only affected the geography of the island, but also how it could be used.

The island was first used for farming around 1774 when Christan Coffman and John Pearce Duvall raised corn there and the island got its first name, Duvall Island.

In 1787, a year before settlers from New England set up shop in Marietta, Hamilton Kerr, who was the hunter for the soldiers station at Fort Harmar, began building a house on the island. Kerr had earlier been part of a party attacked by Native Americans, so he helped protect the island with some large dogs. One by one the animals vanished from the island. The threat was real from the natives. Kerr eventually moved off the island for safety and a block house was constructed by John Duvall. Kerr’s garden and his livestock remained on the island, and he made daily trips. It was during one of these trips that he was killed, and his body sent downriver in his canoe.

A cabin was constructed on the island in 1793 to house the sick of Marietta away from the rest of the population. By this time the island was being called simply Marietta Island.

Disaster struck the island in 1813 when the first of many modern floods swept over the island and destroyed everything that had been built.

It would seem that no one learned from this event and the island was repeatedly built upon only to be destroyed by floods that would sweep the buildings, and sometimes part of the island itself down the river.

Around 1875 the island was simply called THE island and became a spot where illegal nighttime entertainment in the form of cock fighting was popular. The island is part of West Virginia, so Marietta police were powerless to stop it. The sheriff based in Parkersburg did not want to deal with something so far away, and in the middle of the river. Beer was sold for double the price charged in Marietta bars. The action apparently went on for years.

A concrete dam built on the West Virginia side in 1889 made the island easier to get to and helped with farming on the island until modern dams were built in the 1960s, raising the river level well above the structure. The back channel of islands frequently had dams built across them to force more water down the side with the channel.

The largest development ever on the island started after the Buckeye and Eureka Pipeline Company leased part of the island to build a resort and amusement park. On the upstream end of the island, the park featured an 80×60 foot dance pavilion, bowling alleys, horseshoe pits, swings and picnic grounds. It even had a merry-go-round on it. The park had electrical generators on the island to provide power.

The park was the site of a company picnic on July 27, 1900, when two sternwheelers shuttled a reported crowd of 7,000 people to the island.

The park was swept away in 1907 when a flood swept over the island and carried much of the park with it. The island has been completely covered by water more than two dozen times since Marietta was formed.

A few years later the island was sold to Jerry Buckley. The island at that point was used for farming. A house and barn from this era remain on the island today. The Buckley family sold it to the Ohio River Island National Wildlife Refuge in 1998. Today the island is home to a wide variety of plants and animals.

NEXT WEEK: Buckley Island puts the wild in wildlife

Art Smith is online manager for The Times. He can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com