Belle Isle was known to the Indians as Wah-nah-be-zee (White Swan) and was later renamed Isle St. Claire by the French. It was also called Ile de Cochons (Island of the Hogs) because wild pigs had been placed on the island by the first settlers.

In 1752, the French governor granted title to the island to M. Douville Dequinder. By 1760, the British had gained possession of Detroit and King George III, in 1768, gave George Mcdougall permission to live on the island as long as Detroit was maintained as a strategic military post. Lt. Mcdougall purchased the Island from the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians for five barrels of rum, three rolls of tobacco, three pounds of red paint and a belt of wampum. In 1793, Mcdougall's heirs sold Belle Isle to William Macomb for 1600 English pounds.

Then in 1817, Macomb's sons sold the island to Barnabas Campau. It was his descendants who sold Belle Isle to the City of Detroit in 1879 for $200.000. Some Detroiters opposed the purchase, arguing that the price was too high. It is believed the Island was renamed by Campau in honor of Isabelle Cass, the daughter of Lewis Cass, former Michigan territorial governor and later U.S. Senator.

The first bridge connecting the mainland with Belle Isle was built in 1889, but was destroyed by fire in 1915. A temporary bridge was built and used until 1923 when the present 2,193 foot bridge was completed. In 1953 the present bridge was named the Douglas MacArthur Bridge to honor general MacArthur who gained fame during World War II and the Korean War.

The name Belle Isle was officially confirmed by an ordinance of the Detroit Common Council in 1883, the city hired famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to create a master plan for the island's development. Olmsted also designed New York's Central Park, South park in Chicago and the grounds surrounding the Capitol in Washington D.C.

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