Written by
Robert L. Matthews posted on April 13, 2014 07:33
How would you like to visit some Thousand Island homes and cottages as they were one hundred and thirty years ago? Great!
Let’s start with Mr. Cleveland’s home in Cape Vincent. Cleveland sells seeds for planting throughout the world. The warehouse, pictured in the lower right hand corner, is where the seeds are stored prior to shipping. The house and warehouse sit side by side facing the St. Lawrence River.
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Reverend George Rockwell’s cottage “Sunnyside” which was the first cottage built on Cherry Island. Rockwell bought Cherry Island in the early 1870’s.
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Later Mrs. March bought part of Cherry Island from Rockwell and built the second cottage on the island which she named “Ingleside.” Mrs. March and George Pullman’s parents were from Chicago and great friends.
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Located in Alexandria Bay, Bonnie Castle was built in 1877. It is the summer home of Dr. and Mrs. Holland. Dr. Holland founded Scribner’s magazine in 1870 and served as its first editor.
This Bonnie Castle illustration was drawn by Julian Davison. His signature appears in the lower left hand corner of the picture.
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The owner of the top cottage is Jacob Hayes while the bottom cottage belongs to Hubert Van Wagenen. Van Wagenen’s wife Kate is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Holland. The cottages sit next to each other at the head of Round Island.
In 1888 these two gentlemen joined a group of investors and leased the Round Island House. They changed the name to the Frontenac and made extensive improvements. However, it wasn’t until some ten years later when Charles Emery got involved that the Frontenac became a world class hotel.
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This cottage is located up river from the Frontenac dock on Round Island and is owned by James Eaton of Utica, New York.
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Pictured is the Round Island cottage owned by Charles Johnson of Brooklyn, New York. Johnson named his cottage “Brooklyn Heights.”
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Frank H. Taylor’s cottage “Shady Ledge” sits at the foot of Round Island. Taylor is both an author and illustrator and almost certainly illustrated many of the Round Island cottages.
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Island Royal, owned by Royal Dean, is a stone’s throw from Wellesley Island on the main channel.
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Gilbert T. Rafferty was a multi millionaire from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. After he bought Imperial Isle he tore down this cottage in the picture and built a stone castle.
Rafferty served eight years as Commodore of the Thousand Islands Yacht Club while George Boldt served as the club’s Vice Commodore those same eight years. Those years were probably the yacht club’s finest hour.
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Pictured is George Pullman’s second cottage, Castle Rest, which he built in 1888. In August of that year, he gave Castle Rest to his mother as a birthday gift. She had just turned eighty.
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It’s difficult to choose a favorite illustration but this one comes close. The illustration of Sport Island is by Coughlin about whom we know absolutely nothing.
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This illustration has all the earmarks of a Frank H. Taylor drawing. It is the summer residence of the Honorable Robert Livingston of New York City. The location is better known as Belle Island.
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Mr. Warner, from Rochester, New York, made his fortune selling bottled medicine called Warner’s Safe and Kidney Cure.
In 1873 Warner built this twenty six room summer residence which he called “Greystone Villa.” The island’s location is irrelevant because it no longer exists. Do you know why?*
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When Ed Dewey bought this property in 1883, he changed the name from Friendly Island to Dewey Island. President Grant expressed an interest in buying Friendly Island during his visit in 1872 but was told the island was not for sale.
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Fairyland - what a great name for a place in the Thousand Islands. In 1873 this twenty acre property was acquired by the Hayden family from Columbus, Ohio. Mom and dad and their two sons built cottages on the property.
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The illustration of Little Lehigh Island is by the same artist that drew Sport Island.
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This Illustration of Calumet Island shows the wood frame cottage built in 1882. Please notice the yacht “Calumet” as it was Emery’s first yacht to bear that name. Charles Emery’s fortune was made in tobacco.
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In my mind Taylor’s illustrations of the Thousand Island are somewhat comparable to A. C. McIntyre’s photographs. Well, almost! But aren’t we fortunate to have two great sources of visual records for those years?
Outside of the two Coughlin Illustrations, only one other is signed, the Bonnie Castle illustration was drawn by Julian Davison.
For more information on Frank H Taylor and Julian Davidson, click on the following:
Click here: Julian Davidson
Click here: Frank H Taylor
My source for the excerpt on the Castle Rest illustration is from Susan Smith’s book The First Summer People. Such a warm account of a son’s love for his mother was well worth telling again.
and… *The answer to Warner’s Island question is the island was cut in half to make room for the St. Lawrence Seaway. The half of the island still remaining is known as “Stony Crest.”
Thank you for coming onboard and hope you enjoyed the 130-year-old house tour.
By Robert L. Matthews, Fishers Landing
Robert L. Matthews is the author of two popular books: Glimpses of St. Lawrence Summer Life: Souvenirs from the Thousand Islands: Robert and Prudence Matthews Collection, and A History of the Thousand Islands Yacht Club, published in 2009. He and his wife Prudence (well known River artist whose work was presented in Hooked on Prudence in 2009, have one of the most extensive collections of Thousand Islands memorabilia. When not at their beautiful River cottage at Fisher’s Landing, they live in St. Petersburg, Florida. Click here to see all of Robert's TI Life articles.
