If you’ve ever strolled along the path behind the Fairmount Water Works, you might’ve noticed a small boardwalk to an island that juts out into the river. It’s mostly dense trees and underbrush — but turns out it has a name.
It’s called the Isle of Jean, thanks to a Philly resident who adopted it.
Its location along the Schuylkill makes it a sieve for all objects floating downriver, which finally end up in the canal on the southeast side of the island.
“The amount of trash in the canal one year was so bad, you could practically walk across it to get to the island,” Jean Knight, the island’s namesake, told Billy Penn. A “life-long trash picker” who can’t stand the sight of litter, a few years back she decided something must be done.
She reached out to the city Department of Parks and Recreation, which manages the public island. Jason Mifflin, a former Parks & Rec staffer, teamed up with environmental engineer Maria Horowitz from the Philadelphia Water Department to get volunteers out in waders to pick up garbage in the river.
It was a temporary solution. The trash buildup in the water and on the island is a persistent issue, made worse by recent all-time record river flooding. The Parks and Rec department has the option to dredge up the canal or schedule routine maintenance, but does not have an official plan of action for the island, per Horowitz.
So Knight made her own plan: adopt it.
Unnamed islands found along the Schuylkill River are open for claiming via the Keep PA Beautiful Road and Adoption Program. Stewards, with landowner permission, can name their little slice of land whatever they like, and can expect their cleanup efforts to help verify the location name.
“The goal here is for other people to realize that if you adopt a small chunk of the city,” Knight said, “you can name it after yourself on Google Maps.”
Twice a year, Knight — the self-proclaimed Empress of the Isle — rallies her team of 12 to 15 dedicated volunteers to pick up trash for two hours on the 2.2-acre island tucked behind Lloyd Hall Recreation Center on Boathouse Row.
Most of Knight’s minions are neighborhood friends who participate in other park cleanups, like Love Your Park Fall Service Days, or people who’ve already made it a habit to pick up litter in their free time.
There’s a contest at each Isle of Jean cleanup for who can find the most valuable item. Previous winners have found high-quality lumber, cell phones, and even a drone. The prize for winning? Keeping the lucky find.
It’s not uncommon for bystanders to help out during the island cleanups or shout their appreciation from the mainland while the volunteers are in action. People have also expressed their gratitude by leaving Google reviews for the Isle of Jean. The top-liked review reads:
“A quiet and pleasant spot where I met two charming, socially conscious locals invested in collecting and removing trash from the river and its bank thus making the islet even lovelier.”
From ‘Filthy Island’ to ‘Isle of Jean’
Before Knight adopted the islet, she’d started working with Parks & Rec to launch a “Friends of the Island” group. She quickly discovered it was not a simple process and would take time away from trash picking.
So the first time around, the city just provided Knight and her volunteers with bags and a truck for disposal.
She asked if the island had a name. About half the staff called it “the island behind Lloyd Boathouse” while the other half called it Filthy Island. City documents officially refer to it as Silt Island, a nod to how it was created, though no official sign with those words can be found on the premises.
Could she name the island, Knight asked. As long as you don’t need money for signage, you can call it anything you want, Parks & Rec replied.
It was one of Knight’s volunteers who suggested adding “Isle of Jean” on Google Maps. After they completed the “Add a Missing Location” process, Knight got attendees at a conference to drive up searches on the new name to assist in verification.
“It’s a rush when you put your name on an island,” Knight said. So far, she’s written a history (mostly fictional) about the island and arrived at a Halloween party dressed as the Empress of the Isle.
And she’s already inspired another resident to adopt their own island. Ultimately, Knight hopes being able to name pieces of land on Google Maps after yourself will motivate people to maintain the city. And she has good reason to hope, as every year new “minions” show up to her biannual trash cleanup.
“What has been the most rewarding part of this activity for me is the spontaneous reaction of park users that immediately drop what they are doing to join in the trash collecting,” Knight told Billy Penn. “ The energy is out there, it just needs a little direction.”
Adopting an island 101
If you’d like to make the island adoption “official” and qualify for snazzy blue signage, check out the Keep PA Beautiful Adoption Program guidelines.
Per Google Maps, there are two small islets north of Venice Island that currently have no name. Ditto for eight pieces of land around Barbadoes Island, by the Norristown Dam Bridge.
To name your adopted island, simply follow the “Add a missing place to Google Maps” process. Upload photos of your new litter-free island, and let your cleanup crew leave a review about the place, all of which help Google verify the island name.
Updated 12/4
