Lying a mile northeast of Put-in-Bay is Ballast, one of Lake Erie’s twenty islands. According to legend, Ballast earned its name when Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry used rocks from the island to provide ballast for his ships before sailing out to meet the British fleet during the War of 1812. A shallow reef connects the 13-acre island to a nearby sliver of land known as Lost Ballast.

Life on Ballast was shaped by one of its earliest owners, commercial shipping magnate and two-time Cleveland mayor George W. Gardner. At age nine, he sailed aboard a lake schooner bound for Buffalo. While still a teenager, Gardner became head clerk of the Northern Transportation Company, managing the accounts of the firm’s Great Lakes vessels. During a 5-year stint in the banking business, Gardner purchased two tugs that plied the Cuyahoga River. In partnership with John D. Rockefeller and others, Gardner shipped grain throughout the lake ports, making Cleveland one of the largest grain markets on the Great Lakes.

Few men loved the water more than Gardner. Well before the Civil War, Gardner formed the Ivanhoe Boat Club, bringing rowing to the Cuyahoga River for the first time. He later founded the Cleveland Yacht Club and organized the Inter-Lake Yachting Association. He canoed the Mississippi River from Cincinnati to New Orleans. And, Gardner even signed on to a scientific expedition in the Arctic.

In 1874, Gardner purchased Ballast Island and a short time later sold undivided interests to his friends who enjoyed sailing nearly as much as he. Eventually, the cooperative association of wealthy friends built nine cottages along the east and west shores of the island. The Gardners’ cabin was built of logs from the island’s hackberry trees. A hotel and communal dining hall were constructed on the cliffs to the north. Outbuildings housed sheep, cows, and chickens – all brought to Ballast on the steamer "Arrow." The families planted vineyards, fruit trees, and gardens

At the invitation of Commodore Gardner, the Western Canoe Association transported its boat house from Ross Lake, Michigan to the island.

The families at Ballast formed their own canoe association, naming it the Longworth Canoe Club after the father-in-law of Alice Roosevelt Longworth. According to Commodore Gardner’s great granddaughter, Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, McKinley, Garfield, and Cleveland all visited at Ballast. And, each summer the resident canoe club as well as other associations held their annual races in the sheltered waters surrounding Ballast.

Eventually, an ice house, caretaker’s home, and work shed were added. All were protected by a curving break wall made of log cribs filled with stone.

Passing steamers and Ballast’s proximity to South Bass Island made travel to and from the island convenient. Good friends, good conversation, and great sailing made summering on Ballast in these early years an idyllic time.