Green Island, lying west of South Bass Island, was favorite place for Cooke family members to picnic each summer. In August 1890, family members took along watermelon and staged a mock battle. Reverend Henry Cooke wrote that "Cousin Frank Barker stuck them [the Watermelon Brigade] up in a pyramid on the [Green Island] lighthouse steps and 'shot them.'" Green Island was an important navigational point. In 1854, a lighthouse was consturcted on the island. Today, Green Island is owned by the state of Ohio and serves as a bird sanctuary.