Thousand Islands
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- Thousand Islands may refer to Thousand Islands (Indonesia)
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The Thousand Islands are a chain of islands that straddle the U.S.-Canada border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner Lake Ontario. The islands stretch for about 50 mi (80 km) downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario. The U.S. islands are in the State of New York. The islands, which indeed number over a thousand in all, range is size from over a hundred square km to smaller islands occupied by a single residences, to even smaller uninhabited outcroppings of rocks that are home to migratory waterfowl.
Geologically, the islands are located where a branch of the Canadian Shield runs south across the river to join with the Adirondacks. The islands have long been popular with boaters.
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Around twenty of these islands form the St. Lawrence Islands National Park, the smallest of Canada's national parks. The Thousand Islands - Frontenac Arch region was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2002. The U.S. islands include numerous New York state parks, including Robert Moses State Park - Thousand Islands, located on an island in the St. Lawrence.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century many distinguished visitors made the region widely known as a summer resort. Several grand hotels provided luxurious accommodations while steamboats offered extensive tours among the islands. Wealthy and middle-class summer residents built summer homes. Some masonry "castles" remain as international landmarks. The most famous extant examples are Boldt Castle and Dark Island Castle. During the half century (1874-1912) of the resort's greatest prominence, most wealthy vacationers came from New York City, joined by prominent families from Chicago, Pittsburgh and other cities of the United States and Canada. The region retains a historically important collection of vacation homes from this time. The Thousand Islands have long been a center for recreational boating. Large steam yachts, many designed by Herreshoff required distinctive yacht houses. The region was known also for innovative power boating during this period. Three local yacht clubs hosted the Gold Cup Races of the American Power Boat Association for nine consecutive years. The Antique Boat Museum at Clayton, NY retains one of the world's major collections of recreational fresh-water boats.
The islands are crossed by the Thousand Islands Bridge at the southern end near Lake Ontario. The highway north of the bridge provides automobile to one of the islands on the U.S. side.
The largest island in the group is Wolfe Island.
The islands are not to be confused with the Rivière des Mille-Îles in southwestern Quebec.
The islands gave name to a popular salad dressing, unsurprisingly called Thousand island dressing.
External links
- St. Lawrence Parks Commission (Ontario) (http://www.parks.on.ca/home.htm)
- Map of Thousand Islands area (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&searchtype=address&country=CA&addtohistory=&address=&city=gananoque&state=on&zipcode=)