History

"Romeo & Annette"; The life, times, and sad fate of the Ferry "Upper Canada"

So today she sits, waits, and rusts away in the mud, forgotten like a broken, abandoned old vehicle in some equally forgotten, overgrown back field.

Volume 16, Issue 10, October 2021
Brian Johnson

Building an Ice Boat

Bob LaShomb started it all. It began in early February, around 1953. Bob, at that time, was the mail carrier for the US Mail from Clayton to Grindstone Island – two miles across the St. Lawrence River.

Volume 16, Issue 9, September 2021
Manley L. Rusho

All About Cape Vincent's Village Green

The Village Green is an integral part of the Cape Vincent community: the center of every outdoor celebration, the linchpin that ties French Festival together, the heart of the village.

Volume 16, Issue 9, September 2021
Kristie Stumpf Rork

Heyday of the Hay Scows

Hay scows were a product of their environment, floating supplies to the inhabitants of the many islands, and transporting farmers’ produce from the islands to market.

Volume 16, Issue 9, September 2021
Richard Palmer

Cadets Spent Summer Sailing the Thousand Islands

The "John S. Parsons" passed the summer cruising up and down Lake Ontario and through the Thousand Islands region, and finally returned to Oswego, where the cadets disembarked and returned to school in time for the opening of the fall term.

Volume 16, Issue 9, September 2021
Richard Palmer

The Tumultuous Origins of the Gananoque Water Power Company

This largely forgotten story began in the 1830s, but not in Gananoque, as one would expect. It began with Richard Coleman Sr. in what is now a quiet rural community called Lyn,

Volume 16, Issue 8, August 2021
Paul Coté

Les Corbin’s Famous Photo of the Ice Punt

There is an old photo taken by Les Corbin in 1946 of a small wooden boat in the icy river with six men in it - just as it is leaving the Clayton Docks . . .

Volume 16, Issue 8, August 2021
Manley L. Rusho

The Mystery Boat of Cape Vincent

Story, long told with apparent authority, becomes the grist for myth, and myth becomes legend. Legend spiced with a modicum of truth, lasts. ANNA has taken on all these monikers and survived well.

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
Stephen Shay

Crossover Island Lighthouse

Crossover Island is located a bare 1/5th of a mile south of the border, close to the point where the shipping channel crosses the international boundary. The lighthouse was needed to safely guide ships through the cluster of shoals and islands . . .

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
Mary Alice Snetsinger

The Story of District #15, Grindstone's Schoolhouses

The upper school house (District #15) was built at the corner of Base Line Road and Cross Island Road, to serve the children at the upper end of Grindstone Island . . .

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
Liz Raisbeck

The Westminster Chapel

In 2002, Westminster Park Residents Randy and Mary Hannah Arnot envisioned a chapel for Westminster Park and the greater River community . . .

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
Linda Twichell

A Father’s Day Tale or Lifelong Memories of a Used Car Lot

“No, you got a deal,” said Jack Johnson, laughing, taking the man’s hand, feeling the spittle. “I got robbed Marv. You took advantage of this poor boy from Wolfe Island. I can’t feed my family on this.”

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
Brian Johnson

Recording History - Schooner Days and the "Picton" by C.H.J. Snider

Author Richard Palmer shares "Schooner Days Project". with C.H.J. Snider's history of the Schooner "Picton" . . .

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
Richard Palmer

Save The River's Kingfisher Septic Tank Monitoring Program

We all remember that Saturday morning when we voted, I think unanimously, that starting the Kingfisher Septic Tank Monitoring Program was not only a good thing to do, but that it was vital to the health of the River.

Volume 16, Issue 7, July 2021
John Peach

“Zipper” - A Classic Express Commuter

Zipper was donated to the Antique Boat Museum by the family that owned and operated the Stroh Brewery. She was donated on the condition that Zipper be commissioned and cruised, and not sit inside the museum among the various collections that the ABM exhibits.

Volume 16, Issue 6, June 2021
Rick Casali

Sunken Rock Light

Marking the largely submerged rock formation known as Bush Island, Sunken Rock is a little workhorse of a lighthouse built in 1847, and still in service today.

Volume 16, Issue 5, May 2021
Mary Alice Snetsinger

The Friends of Springfield House Complex Need Your Help!

The Springfield House Complex of historic buildings, in the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands, are in danger of being declared surplus and possibly sold.

Volume 16, Issue 5, May 2021
Brian R. Phillips and Glennda Olivier

Part I: Grandmothers—And Great Aunts—of the Thousand Islands: Frances “Meema” Thompson

Born Frances Thompson, “Meema” inherited Ragnavok Island in Chippewa Bay, which had been purchased by her parents in 1889.

Volume 16, Issue 4, April 2021
Callie (Caroline) Quarrier & Hugh Quarrier