Field NotesOhio

Johnson's Island Confederate Cemetery

Marblehead · Ottawa County · Lake Erie

The Civil War prison built only for Confederate officers

National Historic LandmarkOnly prison built solely for Confederate officers

Directions →Official source →

A Civil War prison island in Lake Erie whose Confederate cemetery is the only part open to the public.

Prison: Opened April 1862 and closed September 1865, on a 300-acre island in Sandusky Bay
Prisoners: About 10,000 to 15,000 men passed through, mostly Confederate officers
Deaths: Roughly 200 to 260 died of cold, hunger, disease or execution
Cemetery: 206 headstones; two 2003 monuments list 267 burials, including graves found by radar
Statue: A Confederate soldier by Moses Ezekiel, put up by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1910
Landmark: National Historic Landmark since 1990

The story

The Union chose Johnson's Island, a 300-acre island in Sandusky Bay three miles from Sandusky, for a prison in the fall of 1861, and the first prisoners arrived in April 1862. Its isolation made escape hard, and a 40-acre cleared site was ready. A 15-foot wooden stockade enclosed twelve two-story barracks, a hospital and latrines, and forts and guard quarters stood outside. Over its 40 months, roughly 10,000 to 15,000 men were held, mostly Confederate officers, including 26 who were or became generals.

Mortality was among the lowest of any Civil War prison, but about 200 prisoners still died of the cold Ohio winters, shortages of food and fuel, disease and, by a historical marker's account, execution. Some tried to escape across the frozen lake, and only a handful succeeded. The prison was decommissioned in 1865 and sold off, and the island later became a resort, farms and a quarry. The cemetery has 206 headstones, but the wooden markers rotted, the records are incomplete, and radar surveys have found more graves; two monuments dedicated in 2003 list 267. A Confederate soldier facing south, by the sculptor Moses Ezekiel, was put up by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1910, when memorials to the Confederacy often recast the war. Archaeologists have studied the island since the late 1990s. Most of it is private today; the cemetery, reached by a toll causeway, is open to the public, and a museum nearby tells the story.

Related sites

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.

Content last reviewed: September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source: Official page
Location confidence: Verified entrance or visitor center
Confederate Stockade Cemetery, Johnson's Island Causeway, Marblehead
Check current conditions: Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets: Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

The Island Nobody Could Leave

The Union wanted a place to put captured Confederate officers where they could not walk away. Johnson's Island, a mile and a half of open water from the shore, fit. The prisoners tried anyway: they dug tunnels, cut through the stockade and, in the coldest winters, tried to walk across the frozen bay to Canada.

Only a few made it. The rest sat out the war in wooden barracks, writing letters, and about two hundred of them died.

Behind the legend

The dates, the numbers and the escape attempts are from the Johnson's Island Preservation Society and Wikipedia; a marker erected in 1974 says the cemetery holds 206 men who died of disease, wounds or execution. The society's own research suggests more burials than that. Only a few escapes succeeded, which is why the island was considered secure.

If you go

Drive the causeway to the cemetery, read the markers and combine the visit with the Lake Erie islands at Catawba and Marblehead.

Visiting

Status

Cemetery open; the island is private

Managed by

National Park Service and the Johnson's Island Preservation Society

Hours

The cemetery is open during daylight hours. Check the preservation society before you go, since the causeway is a toll road.

Admission

A toll for the causeway; the cemetery is free.

Phone

See Johnson's Island Preservation Society

Please note

Only the cemetery is open to the public; the rest of the island is privately owned.

Address

Gaydos Rd, Marblehead, OH 43440

Official information →Directions Find trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.

Parks nearby

Catawba Island State Park

About 6 miles · A quiet state park on the tip of a Lake Erie peninsula.

East Harbor State Park

About 10 miles · A big camping park on Lake Erie.

Marblehead Lighthouse State Park

About 4 miles · Ohio's oldest lighthouse in continuous use.

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

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