Grape Island (West Virginia)

Grape Island
Grape Island is located in West Virginia
Grape Island
Grape Island
Geography
LocationOhio River, West Virginia, United States
Coordinates39°25′49″N 81°10′55″W / 39.4303530°N 81.1820571°W / 39.4303530; -81.1820571
Area0.07 sq mi (0.18 km2)
Administration

Grape Island is a 45-acre (180,000 m2) island on the Ohio River in Pleasants County, West Virginia. The bar lies off the West Virginia coast from the communities of Grape Island and Spring Run.

The island was so named after the wild grapevines which once covered the island.[1] Grape Island is forested, predominantly with American sycamores. The island serves as a habitat for great blue heron, wood ducks, cormorants, Canada geese, and migrating loons and tundra swans. Because of its diversity in wildlife, Grape Island is a part of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

  1. ^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 281.