Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Lake Ontario |
Coordinates | 43°55′34″N76°37′10″W / 43.92611°N 76.61944°W |
Total islands | 2 |
Major islands | Main Duck Island |
Administration | |
Canada | |
Province | Ontario |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 (1978) |
Main Duck Island is a Canadian island in the eastern part of Lake Ontario situated next to the smaller Yorkshire Island. It was purchased by Parks Canada in 1977 and has been administered as part of the Thousand Islands National Park since 1998, even though it is not part of the Thousand Islands region. [1] [2]
The island is 20 kilometres from the closest mainland. [3] Its area is 230 hectares (570 acres). [1]
Archaeological evidence suggests the island was first used by nomadic Point Peninsula peoples between 450 BC and 450 AD. The island then appears to have been used by the Owasco culture from 850 to 1050 AD. There is evidence that Iroquoian peoples used the island from 1250 to 1450 AD. [2]
European settlers from Prince Edward County began to settle Main Duck Island in the early 19th century, establishing a fishing station. [2]
Captain John Walters built a schooner there in 1865 called the Harriet Anne. [2]
In 1904 the Government of Canada sold the island to Claude W. Cole from Cape Vincent, New York. [4] Cole was, originally, an impresario in the fishing industry. When the prohibition of alcoholic beverages came into effect, in 1917, Cole became a notorious smuggler, with commercial fishermen who rented huts` on the island, during fishing season, smuggling booze with their catches.
A seasonal fishing village of 60 residents existed in the early part of the century. [4] In 1941, John Foster Dulles, the future secretary of state for Dwight D. Eisenhower, bought much of the island as a summer place. After his death in 1959, his friend Robert F. Hart Jr. inherited his land on the island. The Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased this land circa 1976 and then resold it to the Canadian Federal Government. In 1998 it was included in the Thousand Islands National Park of Canada. [2]
Many vessels were wrecked on shoals near the island. [5]
Besides the lighthouse (c. 1914), [6] a few buildings exists on the island: [7]
In the middle of the larger island is a dock servicing small vessels. There are no roads on the island and just foot trails.
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border spans the centre of the lake.
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The Thousand Islands constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 50 miles (80 km) downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario and the U.S. islands in the state of New York.
The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Thousand Islands National Park, formerly known as the St. Lawrence Islands National Park, is a Canadian National Park located on the 1000 Islands Parkway in the Thousand Islands Region of the Saint Lawrence River. The islands are actually the worn-down tops of ancient mountains. This region, the Frontenac Axis, connects the Canadian Shield from Algonquin Park in Ontario to the Adirondack Mountains in New York.
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To its northwest is the North Channel.
The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, with which it forms the widest strait joining Georgian Bay to the rest of Lake Huron. The Bruce Peninsula contains part of the geological formation known as the Niagara Escarpment.
Pelee Island is an island in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the western half of Lake Erie. At 42 km2 (16 sq mi), Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Canada. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate the development of Pelee Island's role in Ontario's heritage. Nearby Middle Island is the southernmost point of land in Canada.
Presqu'ile Provincial Park is a park in southeastern Northumberland County on the north shore of Lake Ontario near the town of Brighton in Ontario, Canada. The park occupies an area of 9.37 km2 (3.62 sq mi). The name of the park is the French word for peninsula, or literally "almost island", and was believed to be named by Samuel De Champlain on his second expedition. The peninsula was formed when a limestone island was connected to the mainland by a sand spit; this kind of formation is referred to as a tombolo.
The Slate Islands are a small archipelago in Lake Superior, Ontario, Canada, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of the town of Terrace Bay. The island group, consisting of 15 islands in total, was created by a meteorite impact which formed a crater about 32 km (20 mi) wide. In 1985, the Ontario government established the Slate Islands as a natural environment provincial park. The islands are notable for having Ontario's largest herd of boreal woodland caribou.
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Mohawk Island is a small island in the northeast of Lake Erie, in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of limestone with almost no vegetation, and is close to the water level. It was formerly known as Gull Island and contains the ruins of the Gull Island Lighthouse which was built in 1848 to guide ships into the Welland Canal at Port Maitland. In 1933, the lighthouse was automated to no longer require a human keeper and lost significance in 1934 due to the realignment of the canal at Port Colborne. It was decommissioned in 1969 when the mechanism was destroyed by a fire. The lighthouse is located close to the shore of Rock Point Provincial Park.
Carleton Island is located in the St Lawrence River in upstate New York. It is part of the Town of Cape Vincent, in Jefferson County.
The Cove Island Light, at Gig Point on the island, is located in Fathom Five National Marine Park, but is not part of the Park. It is situated on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. It has been a navigational aid in the narrow channel between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay since 30 October 1858. It was the first of six stone Imperial Towers to be completed; all were illuminated by 1859. Most other lighthouses of the era were built of brick, wood, iron or concrete.
Trillium Power Wind 1 (TPW1) is a proposed 450 to 500 megawatt (MW) far-offshore wind farm in the Canadian waters of northeastern Lake Ontario at least 17 to 28 km from the nearest mainland. This renewable energy project is being developed by Trillium Power Wind Corporation, a privately-held, Canadian-owned company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The project was placed in moratorium by the Ontario government on February 11, 2011 at exactly the same hour that Trillium Power was completing a $26 Million financing. A larger follow on equity investment of $400 Million was in discussion with two large global pension funds at the time. Had it not been placed in abeyance, TPW1 would have been the first offshore wind farm built in the Great Lakes. Recently, on January 19, 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal heard an appeal by Trillium Power, focusing on evidence provided by Trillium Power of spoliation in an ongoing litigation by the Ontario Government.
Bill Johnston was a Canadian-American smuggler, river pirate, and War of 1812 privateer. Born in Canada, Johnston was accused of spying in 1812 and he joined the American side of the war and lived the rest of his life in the United States.
Pigeon Island is a small island, in Lake Ontario, near Kingston Ontario. The island had been a navigational hazard since the founding of Kingston, Ontario. A lighthouse was first built on Pigeon Island in 1870.
Swetman Island, formerly False Duck Island, is a small Canadian island in Lake Ontario, south of Picton, Ontario. It is the largest island in a chain of islands and shoals known as the False Duck Islands, not to be confused with the nearby Main Duck Islands. Nearby Timber Island is also considered part of the False Duck Islands. The False Duck Islands, the Main Duck Islands, and Galloo Island and Stony Island on the US side, and their associated shoals, form the Duck Galloo Ridge.
Yorkshire Island is a small island in the east end of Lake Ontario, off Prince Edward County. It is part of a chain of islands, including Stoney Island, Galloo Island, Main Duck Island, and Swetman Island and Timber Island, the False Duck Islands. It was acquired by Parks Canada, in 1977, to preserve as nature preserves.
Timber Island is a 44-hectare (110-acre) island in the east end of Lake Ontario, off Prince Edward County, Canada. It is part of a chain of islands and shoals, including Stoney Island, Galloo Island, Main Duck Island, Yorkshire Island and Swetman Island. Timber Island and Swetman Island, and their nearby shoals, are known as the False Duck Islands.
Main Duck and Yorkshire Islands were acquired by Parks Canada in 1977 as nature preserves.
About 20 kilometres from the nearest mainland, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, is Main Duck Island.
From about 1848 to 1892, the island was rented to Capt. John Walters.
Mariners of past years now living in the cities and towns of both the United States and Canada are always ready to tell of incidents which took place in the neighborhood, and each new disaster recalls memories of the past.