The township and island are named after Gordon Drummond, the first Canadian-born officer to command the military and the civil government of British Canada.

On October 6, 1828, orders were sent out from Quebec that the post would be handed over, and the island was officially occupied by United States on November 14, 1828.

To resolve territorial claims that had precipitated the war, negotiators at Ghent established a process whereby commissioners would survey the boundary to determine the borders envisioned in the original treaty.

The agent for the United States survey team, Major Joseph Delafield, complained, "No map that I have seen has any truth as it respects the position of Drummond's or the other islands about St. Marys.

[21] The island hosts a rare environment known as alvar, a grassy limestone plain found only in a few places worldwide.