History

The Natural Spring on Grindstone Island

I first saw the spring some 80+ years ago, when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I was assigned to fetch drinking water for the schoolhouse . . .

Manley L. Rusho

Snail and Rocket Mail from Gananoque

The variety of ways that mail has snailed or raced from Gananoque to its recipients over the years is quite interesting. ‘Rocket Mail’ has to be the most unusual and with good reason . . .

Sherry L. B. Johnson

A River Family Mother's Day Tradition

Great Grandma Capitola Dingman was born in 1891, one of 14 children from a second-generation pioneer family of Alexandria Bay. . .

Marilyn L. Schaaf

Howe's Southern 'Brother' Doesn't Disappoint

The 'Pinkie', likely honouring one of Qantas’ past navigators, was a Canadian-built DASH-8 twin turboprop designed to land on tiny airstrips anywhere, and in this case, on ‘Howe Island’.

Building the Ice Rink in Clayton!

At the end of a night of skating we kids would be told to grab the shovels and clean the rink . . .

"Spring Fit-out" on the Great Lakes, Part I

In the mid-19th century, as many as one hundred ships wintered in such ports as Oswego. As soon as the ice melted, Oswego came alive like a bear awakening from its long winter’s nap.

Life on Grindstone Island in the 1930s – 1940s

Weekdays, there was a routine that never changed; out from the warm bed under the feather-tick cover, we emerged to

Manley L. Rusho

Remembrances of Rebellion: The Odyssey of Stephen S. Wright

93 English speaking rebels were transported to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land. Stephen Smith Wright was one of these men, and this is his story . . .

Mudlunta Island Architecture

Once I had Philip's information, including that the Mudlunta resident C.V. Schuyler was married to Alice Britton, it was possible to quickly find the right people to research.

Sherry LB Johnson & Philip Britton

The Thousand Island Park Great Fire of 1912 Heroes

The summer of 1910 was unseasonably hot and dry, and the population of TI Park had grown to about 12,000. The area was primed for trouble, and that summer, three major fires nearly destroyed the Park.

Susan G. Mathis

‘Irish Bard’ Finds Family Roots on Wolfe Island

In the wee hours before Christmas Eve, Jannet Walsh suddenly bolted upright in her bed. Or what she believed was her bed . . .

"A Near-Fatal Case of Mistaken Identity" and a John Fielding Tribute

With all the discussion about guns in America, I started to reflect on my own close call. While I was teaching high school in Brockville in the '70s . . .

John Fielding & John Stencell

“Bringing Camp to Dad… One Last Time”

It was February 2005. My 83 year old Dad and I sat in the sunroom at my parents’ cottage in a tiered living retirement community in NC. As always, Dad’s thoughts turned to the family’s seasonal camp on Chippewa Bay, NY.