History

Out of a Flood: The Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary

The Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary is an oddity of history, its nine thousand hectares of field, wetland, and uplands established on land reclaimed through unique circumstances.

Volume 14, Issue 9, September 2019
Craig Irwin Stevenson

The Work of Minna Anthony Common: Rock Ridges Trail

Minna Anthony Common spent nearly all of here summers surrounded by its beauty as the foundation for her life's work.

Volume 14, Issue 9, September 2019
Becky Ferrigno

And Then There Was Light

Before August 1st, 1929, Grenell Island was dark at night. Imagine a world lit by lamplight.

Volume 14, Issue 8, August 2019
Lynn E. McElfresh

Spectacle Shoal and Red Horse Rock Lighthouses

Spectacle Shoal and Red Horse Rock were among nine lighthouses established in 1856 when the government decided that lighting the Canadian Thousand Islands was a priority.

Volume 14, Issue 7, July 2019
Mary Alice Snetsinger

Tom Comstock; from Wells Island to History’s Pages

Recounting the memoirs of Thomas Comstock, known as Tom, a well-known oarsman from Alexandria Bay.

Volume 14, Issue 6, June 2019
Linda Twichell

'59 Forward: An Essay on the St. Lawrence Seaway After 60 Years.

The St Lawrence, in its transformation from River to “Seaway”, took on a tone of indifference, of corporate and bureaucratic efficiency, with decisions made at a distance and on a scale far...

Volume 14, Issue 6, June 2019
Craig Irwin Stevenson

The Captain's TI Park Lot 214

According to the abstract of title pertaining to our lots, Lot 214, where our cottage is sited, was leased by Capt. Brown from the Thousand Island Camp Meeting Association on June 26, 1909.

Volume 14, Issue 6, June 2019
Raymond Kowalski

The Cliff House Mystery

From the very beginning, Cliff House was a mystery. The Cliff House became a curiosity. Islanders from far and near flocked to the deserted hotel to wander through the furnished rooms.

Volume 14, Issue 5, May 2019
Lynn E. McElfresh

Maggie Wheeler, the Seaway Valley Queen of Crime

"Being good at planning murders is not what you dream of becoming one day as a child,” Maggie said. “I guess it was the Nancy Drew effect,..

Volume 14, Issue 5, May 2019
Brian Johnson

Gliding Back in Time

What better way to start a day on the island than with a row in a St. Lawrence River Skiff?

Volume 14, Issue 4, April 2019
Lynn E. McElfresh

Sinking of the Harvey J. Kendall, another Augustus Hinckley Story

HARVEY J. KENDALL was a rather odd-looking boat and was nearing the end of her days when she was acquired

Volume 14, Issue 4, April 2019
Richard Palmer

Island of Strong Women

It goes something like this. Back in the mid-18th century, two Irish girls were given the choice to either marry or become nuns.

Volume 14, Issue 3, March 2019
Lynn E. McElfresh

Sport and Spectacle - Speedboat Racing on the St. Lawrence

Speedboat racing provides sport and spectacle to boat enthusiasts worldwide. Alexandria Bay has been the site of many of the greatest racing events in speedboat history.

Volume 14, Issue 3, March 2019
Martha Grimes

Early Families of Westminster Park... The Twichell's

Funny thing about personal histories… the story belongs to the teller. Have you heard someone proclaim, “My great-grandfather was the best fishing guide...

Volume 14, Issue 3, March 2019
Linda Twichell

Cole Shoal Lighthouse the Irony and the Rebuild

On July 23, 2018 the Cole Shoal Lighthouse west of Brockville was struck by lightning during a fierce storm and rapidly burned to the water line.

Volume 14, Issue 3, March 2019
Michael Milne

An Augustus Hinckley Story

The captain guided his boat by dead reckoning while his crew prayed. It was eight days before Christmas 1902, and the ship was en route from Cape Vincent to its home port, Oswego.

Volume 14, Issue 3, March 2019
Richard Palmer

Early Families of Westminster Park: The J. D. Huntington Family.

Dr. J. D. Huntington, a well-known engraver, publisher, and dentist. Huntington was a deeply religious man and a passionate Prohibitionist who lived in Westminster Park, Thousand islands.

Volume 14, Issue 2, February 2019
Linda Twichell

The Red Barn Preserve - Just the Beginning

When we first visited it in early June, it still hadn't had its official grand opening and some of the trail markings weren’t even in place.

Volume 14, Issue 2, February 2019
Patty Mondore