Tar Island is an island near the town of Rockport in the Canadian waters of the St. Lawrence River, and a part of the Thousand Islands, a freshwater archipelago.
Tar Island is an island near the town of Rockport in the Canadian waters of the St. Lawrence River, and a part of the Thousand Islands, a freshwater archipelago.
Tar Island is about three kilometers long and a third of a kilometer wide, and separated from the northern shore of the river by sixty meters. [1] It measures 262 acres (106 hectares) in area and 8.0 kilometers (5.0 miles) in perimeter. Situated on a small unnamed island near the head of Tar Island is an automatic lighthouse directing traffic for the Canadian Middle Channel of the St. Lawrence. [2]
A large deposit of black tourmaline is located just southeast of the island, [1] [3] intermixed with white quartz, cream colored feldspar, and green-yellow mica. [4] The waters around Tar Island are home to American eel, now endangered. [5]
Tar Island was a site of Iroquois settlement, and contains arrowheads, bones, and a star painted in red ochre. [6] [7] According to the 18th century French captain Pierre Pouchot, a narrows between the island and Canadian shore was previously called Petit Detroit by the Iroquois, and used for baptizing newcomers to the river. [8] During the War of 1812 Tar Island was the site of the 19 June 1814 ambush and capture of the British gunboat Black Snake, along with her captain Herman Landon, by American sailing master Francis Gregory. [9]
Inhabitants of Tar Island have included entomologist William Steel Creighton, [10] industrialist Robert Hewitt, [11] farmer Ralph Hodge (described in Thompson's Soul of the River,) [12] and videogame designer Brian Reynolds. [13] Farming (including products such as corn) [14] has not been practiced on Tar Island since 1990, with land now primarily used for summer cottages. [15]
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is surrounded 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, whose water boundaries meet in the middle of the lake.
The St. Lawrence River is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America, flowing from Lake Ontario in a roughly northeasterly direction into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean and forming the primary drainage outflow of the Great Lakes Basin. The river traverses the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec as well as the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States. It also provides the basis for the commercial St. Lawrence Seaway.
Alexandria is a town in the Thousand Islands region of the U.S. state of New York, within Jefferson County. The town's population was 4,061 at the 2010 United States Census. The town is named after Alexander LeRay, the son of an early developer. The village of Alexandria Bay is within the town.
Orleans is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 2,789 at the 2010 census, up from 2,463 in 2000. The town is located in the northern part of the county and is north of Watertown. Orleans is named after the commune of Orléans in France.
Lisbon is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 4,102 at the 2010 census.
Ogdensburg is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and developer Samuel Ogden.
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.
Thousand Islands National Park, formerly known as the St. Lawrence Islands National Park, is 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.
Clayton is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 5,153 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John M. Clayton, a federal political leader from Delaware.
Ellisburg is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 3,474 at the 2010 census. The town is in the southwestern corner of the county and is south of Watertown. Ellisburg is named after early European-American landowners. Among the villages in the town is Ellisburg.
The Beaver Wars, also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, encompass a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the lower Great Lakes region which pitted the Iroquois against the Hurons, northern Algonquians and their French allies. As a result of this conflict, the Iroquois destroyed several confederacies and tribes through warfare: the Hurons or Wendat, Erie, Neutral, Wenro, Tionontate, Susquehannock, Mahican and northern Algonquins whom they defeated and dispersed, some fleeing to neighboring peoples and others assimilated, routed, or killed.
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the portion of New York State lying north of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Island, and most definitions of the region exclude all or part of Westchester and Rockland counties. Major cities across Upstate New York from east to west include Albany, Utica, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.
Wellesley Island in Jefferson County, New York, United States is partially in the Town of Orleans and partially in the Town of Alexandria.
The North Country is the northernmost region of the U.S. state of New York, bordered by Lake Champlain to the east, the Adirondack Mountains and the Upper Capital District to the south, the Mohawk Valley region to the southwest, the Canadian border to the north, and Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence Seaway to the west. A mostly rural area, the North Country includes seven counties. Fort Drum, a U.S. Army base, is also located in the North Country, as is the Adirondack Park. As of 2009, the population of the region was 429,092.
Fort Lévis, a fortification on the St. Lawrence River, was built in 1759 by the French. They had decided that Fort de La Présentation was insufficient to defend their St. Lawrence River colonies against the British. Named for François Gaston de Lévis, Duc de Lévis, the fort was constructed on Isle Royale, 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream from the other fort. The fort surrendered after intense bombardment in August 1760 to the British and was renamed Fort William Augustus. The fort was abandoned in 1766. During the construction of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the remains of the fort were destroyed and submerged beneath the waters of the river.
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail, formerly named and commonly known as the Seaway Trail, is a 518-mile (834 km) National Scenic Byway in the northeastern United States, mostly contained in New York but with a small segment in Pennsylvania. The trail consists of a series of designated roads and highways that travel along the Saint Lawrence Seaway—specifically, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the Saint Lawrence River. It begins at the Ohio state line in rural Erie County, Pennsylvania, and travels through several cities and villages before ending at the Seaway International Bridge northeast of the village of Massena in St. Lawrence County, New York. It is maintained by the non-profit Seaway Trail, Inc.
Zavikon Island refers to either the larger or the pair of islands in the Thousand Islands archipelago on the St. Lawrence River between New York and Ontario, two kilometres southeast of Rockport, Ontario and about 200 metres (660 ft) north of the international boundary. As confirmed by the Canadian Department of Natural Resources, Zavikon Island is located in Canadian territory and is part of the township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands in The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.
Grenadier Island is one of the islands of the Thousand Islands located on the St. Lawrence River in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, Canada.
The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, short for Robert Moses-Robert H. Saunders Power Dam, is a dam on the Saint Lawrence River straddling the border between the United States and Canada. It is located between Massena in New York and Cornwall in Ontario. The dam supplies water to two adjacent hydroelectric power generating stations, the United States' 912 MW St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project and Canada's 1,045 MW R.H. Saunders Generating Station. Constructed between 1954 and 1958 as part of the larger Saint Lawrence Seaway project, the dam created Lake St. Lawrence. Aside from providing significant amounts of renewable power, the dam regulates the St. Lawrence River and affords passage for the navigation of large vessels. Despite the enormous economic advantages to the dam, it required the relocation of 6,500 people and caused harm to the surrounding environment. Efforts have been made over the years to improve shoreline and fish habitats.
Morrisburg is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of South Dundas, located in Eastern Ontario, Canada.
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