History
Gibraltar Island became 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.
Ownership of the island remained with Connecticut until Pierpont Edwards, a New York banker purchased the deed in 1807. Sandusky, Ohio native Jay Cooke bought the island from Edwards in 1864 and immediately began construction of a 15 room Victorian-Gothic mansion (now known as Cooke Castle). The Cooke family entertained a variety of notables, such as William Tecumseh Sherman, Salmon P. Chase, Rutherford B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison.
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“Well, for us, in history where goodness is a rare pearl, he who was good almost takes precedence over he who was great.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)