Belle Isle is the city's jewel, providing fond memories for generations of Detroiters.

But it wasn't always the beautiful gem that it is today. Indeed, it was once a swampy place used for grazing pigs known as Hog Island (or as the city's French settlers called it, Île aux Cochons). It also wasn't as large as it is today, with efforts over the years adding fill to provide more land for the park.

Today, Belle Isle is 981 acres, and is the country’s largest city island park. It is 2.5 miles long and is larger than Central Park in New York - though still smaller than Detroit's Rouge Park in District 7. Belle Isle also boasts about 7 miles of shoreline.

The pre-park days

When the French settled Detroit in 1701, the island was a place where the public could graze livestock and keep it safe from predators.

Barnaby Campau bought the island from the Macomb family in 1817 for $5,000 - a purchase that was confirmed by President Andrew Jackson in 1832, given Michigan's state as a territory at the time. Even under the Campaus' private ownership, the island became a popular place for Detroiters to have picnics and camp - even without permission.

When Barnaby Campau died in 1845, he left the island to his wife; sons, Barnaby Jr. and Alexander; and daughters Emily and Angelique - though for reasons that aren't exactly clear, the official transfer of the property wasn't completed until 1863. Meanwhile, Barnaby Jr. drowned at the foot of Bates Street in 1859. His widow, Alexandrine, remarried, to Robert Storrs Willis, in October 1861.

The will left Alexander 50 acres of the lower part of the island, and Alexandrine and Willis received 176 acres. Emily and Angelique got the rest, which was mostly forestland.

Willis clear-cut and drained a portion of his land and built what is now known as the White House on his slice of the island.

On July 4, 1845, a group of Detroiters picnicking on the island decided to give the island a new name, Belle Isle, in honor of Gov. Lewis Cass' daughter Isabella.

On Sept. 23, 1879, the City of Detroit bought the island for $200,000 from the Campau family. The City then consulted with Frederick Law Olmsted - the famed designer of Central Park in New York - to plan the development of Belle Isle into a public park. Olmsted was signed to a contract to provide three years of his time to designing and improving the island. His plan was not fully realized, however, as he called for Belle Isle to remain mostly natural. The City, instead, built a number of structures on the island - from an aquarium to a casino. Other parts of Olmsted's design were deemed too expansive. The areas of Olmsted’s vision that were carried out include a canal system for canoeists, Central Avenue, creating both open and wooded areas and a ferry landing.

The island opened as a public park in 1880.

Growing a gem

Belle Isle has been enlarged a number of times over the years, adding to its acreage and providing more room for Detroiters to recreate.

In 1913, thousands of yards of dirt were brought from the excavation of the new Statler Hotel, the former site of the old Bagley homestead at Bagley Street and Washington Boulevard. The dirt was added to the foot of the island, building out for the yacht club. On May 19, 1920, the Detroit Free Press reported the "plan for enlarging Belle Isle by carrying all sort of solid waste material from street endings to the island where the cargoes could be dumped ... would become the foundations for new land.

The biggest addition came in 1921-23, when 24.5 acres were added to the head of the island for the Scott Fountain. An additional 29.5 acres were added to other areas of the island at that time, as well.

"A History of Belle Isle" by Phyllis Warbeck Ross states that "during the construction boom of the 1920s, landmarks such as the Guardian, Buhl, Penobscot and David Stott buildings were added to Detroit, excavations at these sites provided landfill for operations at Belle Isle." Parts of the buildings razed for their construction were also used as fill, and that's why you can see chunks of ornate stone along the island's coastline.

The Belle Isle Zoo

Belle Isle was once home to a zoo. As far back as 1886, there was a menagerie located at Central Avenue and Inselruhe, that was home to small animals, including raccoons, and birds. In 1890, a deer park was added. Five years later, a few European fallow deer were sent as a gift from the president of France, Felix Francois Faure.

Space was prepared for a zoo that added a lake for aquatic birds, walkways, and buildings to house wild animals. A bear pit was added with cages for a polar bear, a grizzly bear and the common Michigan bear. There also was a wolf cage, seal pond and an elk exhibit. By 1909, the zoo on Belle Isle had 150 animals in 32 acres.

Sheba

The most popular attraction at the zoo was its elephants. The most famous of the gentle creatures was Sheba the Asian elephant, who was purchased in 1923 with the pennies, nickels and dimes saved by Detroit children. For this reason, Sheba became known as the "School Children's Elephant." She arrived in Detroit on June 16, 1923, aboard the D&C steamship City of Cleveland III. She was about 4 years old and weighed about a ton. She lived at the Elephant House, which was built on the island.

Sheba died Jan. 2, 1959, at the age of 39, and was buried on the island.

From city park to state park

As Detroit bled population and tax base, mounting financial problems for the City led to severe cutbacks for Belle Isle. This led to wide swaths of the park to fall into disrepair. With the city careening toward bankruptcy, in 2013, the State of Michigan signed a 30-year lease to take over management of Belle Isle and run it as a state park. This saved Detroit millions of dollars each year and led to considerable investment in polishing Detroit's island jewel. The Belle Isle Conservancy, a nonprofit group run by volunteers also continues to contribute to its upkeep and restoration.

Much more to come on Belle Isle soon.

Special thanks to Lori Feret for her research.