Happy New Year! This article introduces a muskie hunter, provides a link to tracking a bald eagle named Hal, looks back on Buoy Bobbing and provides many ways to enjoy winter in the North Country. We thank Ian Coristine for his new “headers” and Lillian and Paul Cooledge for sharing their photographs. And finally, the River is quiet which gives us time to read about it

As a gift in December we present History, Poetry, Diving Escapades and 22 Photographs by Thousand Islands photographers. We also pay tribute to Don Ross, new "Keeper of the Islands" and to the late John King and Captain Richard (F.E.) Fawcett. Enjoy this issue and please forward it to a friend.

Two important issues this month: the recent announcement that Congress approved a trade agreement with Columbia repealing an exemption of a 5.50 visitor fee to be applied to all Canadians who arrive in the United States by air or sea, and the recent debut of plans to build a hotel in Clayton...

We have just completed our Canadian Thanksgiving. We remember cooking our turkey on a cold icy morning, or a windy and blustery day, but this past weekend was just like summer 2011 – warm, sunny and far too nice to be putting on shutters or closing down the water system!

I want to take this opportunity, on behalf of our fellow islanders, our cruising sailors, and the nearby mainlanders, to thank all the marina operators, local business ...

September signals the end of Summer … We introduce music by Peg Dolan in a Dennis McCarthy YouTube video; new contributors and two new books. We also report sad news of the deaths of Michael Mead from Grindstone Island and Peter Hendley from Grenell Island. . .

Q&A:  (1) How many of you sat on your deck (cottage/boat/cockpit) and watched the world go by? Answer: Everyone...

Almost everyone has heard about the border problems.  Concerned citizens on both sides of the River have sent lette...

TI Life in June gives this editor the opportunity to introduce this month’s articles and provide River news - which includes photographs of the Cornwall Brothers Store Museum which lost its roof in the June 8th storm. There is much more... a poem, "Otter's Claim" by Joan A Kimball and a very special letter to the editor… and MikeCox,our volunteer web magician, added a slide show feature to the site this month.

Thousand Islands Life Magazine presents 12 articles this month…  something for everyone!  Not only are the art...

This month we pay tribute to Mary Hewitt, from Tar Island and Robert Russell, author of The Island, from Hay Island.  We also introduce three new contributors, Judith Gould, Lin Bennett and Portia Legatt. Also we present a new video from Abay.com...

There is something special about March. The luck of the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, Daylight Savings Time, and yes, the days are getting longer! If you, like many others, have been trying to convey to friends and family elsewhere just how exceptional the Thousand Islands really are, now have two new ways to do it.

With all the world turmoil, there’s no better time to ... put a thousand islands in your life!
In addition to introducing this month's articles we bring important news from Clayton, and sadly report that the River has lost another champion...

In December, we received Dan Denney’s "Through the Ice - a Tale of Survival". Not only does he explain how dangerous it can be to drive on river and/or lake ice, he gives us techniques for survival which he had to learn the hard way! January's issue also presents history, photographs and more...

Love them or hate them, family Christmas letters are here to stay. Here is our family letter:   We published ...

Thanksgiving in the United States is just around the corner.  Time to sit back and read our e-zine from cover to co...

This month our "TI Life" authors look back over Summer 2010. We also introduce four new contributors and we report with pride how our September article, “Gananoque’s Link to Victory”, written by John and Jim Taylor was reprinted with a “Wow Factor” by the Vintage Wings of Canada Foundation.

Yes summer is almost over, but what a great one we have had! Throughout the summer we collected photographs from our readers both on "TI Life" and from our Facebook site, and we share some here. We also congratulate Ian Coristine for winning a 2010 Benny Award for his book, "The very best of Ian Coristine's 1000 Islands"...

Summer 2010 will be remembered as the one that brought wonderful warm weather, enough water to keep us off the shoals an...

July is vacation time and hopefully you are not sitting at your computer but instead enjoying these truly hot, hazy, crazy days of summer. For that reason in July we publish TI Life ‘Lite'. And to help you enjoy the summer, do check this article as we share a new slide show of the Thousand Islands, created by Ian Coristine with the music of Great Lake Swimmers...

What a month! Wonderful weather, still going from hot to cold, but some rain and the water level is slightly higher. In addition to introducing our stories, we present links to two great videos. Our Readers Exchange allows us to answer a number of inquiries... This month we also present several follow-up articles. The first is a result of interesting comments about last month’s article by Kim Lunman

May 2010 brings hot weather, wind storms, even snow…. but the leaves are out and there is one given – Summer 2010 is on its way. This issue includes farming, restoring the "Magedoma", history, an essay on low water, and the launch of Ian Coristine’s new book, The very best of Ian Coristine’s 1000 Islands. I also have the chance to thank the man…

As promised our authors and team members are keeping track of important River issues:
“Many NY State Parks are slated to be closed” … From Governor Patterson after the National Park Service joined the fray… and “Offshore wind turbines in Lake Ontario” The engineer who designed the 86 turbines on Wolfe Island, has been granted approval to build 60 towers in Lake Ontario…

TI Life was asked “I wonder why you are not on Facebook? I imagine you would reach a much larger audience (word spreads like wildfire) and you have wonderful photos/graphics that would work well on the site….” So in February we launched Thousand Islands Life Magazine on facebook Groups

When the January edition went online three days after the Haitian earthquake. Immediately, we saw River communities participating in the global collection of assistance funds. One group of islanders went beyond the norm. Grindstone Island’s Mark Purcell, of Watertown’s Purcell Construction Corp. offered to buy, and erect, over 700 shelter tents for Haiti and to deliver same, from Florida,

“Slow as molasses in January” – I have heard that expression since I was a child, but somehow this year it seems that Ja...

How do we pay tribute to our authors for their thousands of words and to Ian Coristine, and many others, for their wonderful photographs? First we thank Paul Malo... then we add Ian's photo of a ship passing under the Thousand Islands Bridge. Stir it all up in the computer and PRESTO - we have 127 articles from 2009.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, but there is certainly more than just turkey and pumpkin pie. The day is about givi...

October, when many of us have left the River and are now beginning our winter projects. Early in September, Judy Well...

Since joining TI Life in September 2008, I have happily counted (close to 50) the people who have generously donated the...

This month we introduce our August new contributors, Lynn McElfresh, Douglas Goodfellow and Rachel Cole. We also pay tribute to Tom Schwalm who died suddenly at his home on Wellesley Island in July. The River has lost a good friend.

When we recorded our 3,000th subscriber, Chris Brock, I wrote to him to say how much we appreciated his interest in "TI Life" and apologized for the lack of a prize as this is a totally-volunteer publication. However, we received a prize from him, a short story - complete with illustrations by Danna Moles!

On June 6th subscriber number 3,000 joined TI Life! This month we introduce Capt. Brian Johnson, Robert S. Miner and William Worden and welcome back Phil Chadwick, Kim Lunman, Michael Whittaker, James Rapport and Ian Coristine.

Trilliums and Beavers are a sure sign of spring. Sagastaweka Island, has thousands of trilliums to welcome us back to the River and at least one industrious beaver. The first I adore, the latter not so much! Actually there are now other worries for islanders to consider and the list is long...

My husband and I opened Sagastaweka Island on April 3 – cold, rainy, and beautiful. Before opening your cottage I sugges...

TI Life has a new "Readers' Exchange" where we welcome your short stories of seven-hundred words, or less. Our first sto...

A proposed anchor tourism attraction for the Thousand Islands is a huge step closer to opening its doors on Brockville’s...

Our house is built on a rock in a river. So begins "Of Time and an Island", a love letter to the Thousand Islands penne...

What’s happening? The December issue of our magazine comes to you with a new look!

Imagine asking the US residents on Washington Island, in Clayton, NY, to change the island’s name back to its original: ...

HILL ISLAND - Bud Andress grabs his binoculars and hops on the Jet-Ski at the dock of his St. Lawrence River home to go ...

A Gananoque businessman and sailor who loved to explore the St. Lawrence River

From my very first summer on the River, I’ve heard the story about Harry Chalk and his tin cup. Harry was the intrepid c...

It was a really good hit, I grabbed the rod, set the hook and checked the drag. Dan was right next to me and I said, ‘Here...

Frank Eames would be called an “amateur historian” which is why his role is not well recognized.

Getting to Grindstone - First glitch, the boys had thrown locking hitches on the dock lines. NEVER a locking hitch after November 1!

The Wheelock family began selling china in Wisconsin..

After Johnston and a small band of men destroyed the Peel, the Thousand Islands became ground zero for a costly bi-national manhunt.

Yes, towns around the Thousand Islands in 2012 are getting ready to “celebrate, learn and/or participate” in the 200th a...

What is your vision of the Thousand Islands in twenty or even fifty years? What characteristics of the Islands do you c...

We finished last. We’d learned about starting, spinnakers that the Lightnings could deploy downwind, and how to get around the course without fouling.

Carolyn Pratt spent summers as a young girl with her family on Mudlunta Island just a pebble's toss away from Kitsymenie...

I probably have a dozen things with the word Grenell on them: t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, rain jackets, canvas bags and...

The magnificent launch was completed on schedule as promised. Wela Ka Hao met Col. Wilber's expectations so completely that it became his principle boat for the next twenty-five summer seasons.

“I’m flattered when someone likes my photographs but it’s hard to take a bad picture in the Thousand Islands. Take your ...

For nearly 82 years, Hal ‘Moose’ McCarney, the ‘godfather’ whose persona often resembled a human dynamo, had his feet planted firmly on his playing turf...

"I rowed out to sink a heap of trash gathered too long in a soggy box under our chipped
enameled sink..." thus begins Sinking Trash by David Lyttle

I'm not sure why shipwrecks fascinate me. Maybe it's because I watched a boat sink while standing on my parent's beach i...

From the moment the anchor emerged dripping from the waters of the St. Lawrence River, the twelfth grade students of Tho...

I had no idea as to its value and asked the dealer the price. She held up two fingers but did she mean two dollars, twenty dollars or two hundred dollars?

Before my first visit to Grenell in 1975, my then fiancé - now husband, Gary, showed me the lot map of Grenell drawn in ...

Some good things start with death. When my father's Uncle Luther died in October 1952, Big Bob was glum. "You’d’ve like...

The summer of 1904 proved to be the debut in quantity of the gasoline launch in the Thousand Islands. The Syracuse Post ...

"Garden Island grew from merely a dot in the wilderness to be the home of hundreds - it made a bit of history all its ow...

It’s a question that is so often taken out of context. Does size matter? More times than not the response is – No. Howe...

It was Sunday morning, October 16, 2011. My good friend and fellow "Canadian Empress" colleague, Ratch Burnill Wallace had suddenly passed away. He was 66...

From the day the Grenell Island Community House was dedicated in 1934, the southwest corner room was designated as a lib...

The warm spring sun reflected brilliantly off the freshly varnished woodwork as Jack Preston guided his brand new blue a...

Most of us go on holiday with our trusty cameras ready to capture our memories, but Robert Hedden travels with a sketch ...

When my wife, Prudence, and I began to collect, we didn’t understand or recognize the value of glass and consequently le...

The trek to the post office to retrieve the mail is a daily ritual on Grenell. It’s rarely a straight shot there and bac...

It ended up being a love story of sorts. When one of my coworkers mentioned that her sister-in-law’s family was responsi...

Mystery!.......It was just before sunrise when my phone unexpectedly rang. Dark thoughts run through your head in the in...

This story first appeared in the Kingston Whig-Standard as: “1946: End of the ferry crises” on November 17, 2006. The tr...

Frank Cole, long time resident of Murray Isle, was a friend to many and a father who loved to share his memories with his family. This story is just one of many...

Six blindfolded men and women board a boat in the middle of the St. Lawrence River and are taken to a century-old castle...

Have you been to Clayton lately? If not, you are probably missing out on some interesting sights along the water. For...

Mix well: Seven months and $400,000. Add one motel owner, a lawyer and partner with a small boat company. Strain and pre...

“Sure is,” he said. “That was a hard crash. When I woke up in the ambulance and saw that white ceiling and the light, I thought ...

Augusta Cecconi-Bates is known as a composer of operas and operettas. Her most recent operettas were not only written in the Thousand Islands, but were inspired by characters

“If there’s that much trash in this one little area, then how much is in the entire river?” asked a spectator on a Septe...

The 1000 Islands is a playground for a multitude of summer water-based activities. Swimming, rowing, kayaking, wake-boar...

Without the motor power, we still felt the boat dancing on the rocks and getting pushed around by the waves.

“So spooky to see boats just sitting on the bottom, waiting for the end of time”, was the reaction of one of the visitor...

It is not often that we hear that legislators and/or government officials in the United States and Canada are “doing som...

They say every man is an island. Farhad Vladi says every man can own an island. Vladi, as he is known in international ...

Located near the foot of the island, just down the sidewalk from the Grenell Island Chapel, stands the heart of Grenell—...

Jack Norris became ‘chief engineer’ of the Gananoque Boat Line after spending a lifetime at sea. Standing head and shoul...

Varick Chittenden founded the non-profit organization, TAUNY (Traditional Arts in Upstate New York), 25 years ago. Altho...

During the early to mid-1900’s, Alexandria Bay’s boat building and repair business included several machine shops. My fa...

In late August, I received a copy of Thousand Island Park: The Story of an American Eden, authored by Clayton J. Butler....

As the summer of 2011 rapidly comes to a close I find myself thinking about our latest two-week cottage vacation and rea...

Dr. Douglas J. Pippin, Star Carter,  and I are standing on the embankment at Fort Haldimand, a British Fort built o...

Dave Whitford provides an article titled: "Tinkering" and a tribute to the late Riggs Smith whose contributions to the River community will be long remembered.

Louise Gaylor Cooke deserves special recognition for her dedication in preserving the history of Point Vivian.  We ...

In the Gilded Age, as now, American’s love sports; hotels, clubs, and communities had teams. The Thousand Islands region...

The Canadian Geographical Names Data Base at Natural Resources Canada is the repository for official names records...

“Most people only dream of living to the age of 100,” she begins. “Our Gramp planned on it...

Island life is all about boats, so why did it take Grenell Island Improvement Association 91 years to come up with the i...

It was love at first sight. They were married July 28th, 1908 on the Magedoma,

“My Mom and I have this collection of stereograph cards, and we want to share it,” Tom French told me over the telephone...

In the 1980s, while working at St. Lawrence Islands National Park, I became involved with the writing of the history of ...

June 1904 marked the beginning of the Gold Cup Races, considered power boat racing’s ultimate contest in North America a...

Andrew Keech, and his young family, settled on a farm near Clayton, New York, around 1830, thus continuing more than 150...

Official names of places and features in the United States are selected by the Board on Geographic Names...

I am in search of Mary “Molly” Brant, Mohawk woman of the American Revolution. Her journey once took her to Fort Haldima...

In July 2011, TI Life published a book review of Saints, Sinners and Sailors of the Gilded Age: A compendium of biograph...

It was famously dubbed the Castle of Mysteries by the New York Times more than a century ago and today it still holds mo...

The Day Has Finally Come - June 14, 2011 – a day I will remember. I woke up just after 6 a.m. to begin my day. I was ho...

Enterprising, accomplished, and a passionate champion for the Thousand Islands, Leonard Stratford is literally on top of...

Two old cottages beneath a fistful of pines—that was my first impression of what was then known as Ogden Point.  Be...

If you ask Elliott Hillback how to begin collecting cars he answers with a question: Do you want to drive the car or sho...

How many of us wish we could live, work and play golf in the Thousand Islands? James (Jim) Hungerford, who left the Rive...

“Saints, Sinners & Sailors of the Gilded Age”, by Rexford M. Ennis and Archeophone Records presents "The High Priestess of Jollity & The Southern Singer."

    In Wolfe Island’s hour of need for means of transportation...

I started looking for sources of Hutchinson history to see if there might be enough material available to actually create a modest exhibit...

Do you have an iPad, here's a really neat way to experience ThousandIslandsLife.com, using a new free iPad app called Fl...

This fact sheet appears on the Canadian Border Services Agency website: Fact Sheet July 2011 Simplified cell phone r...

Cangarda, the century-old luxury yacht that once sailed the St. Lawrence River  as Senator George T. Fulford's Mage...

SHIP! It’s a game we started when my husband retired nine years ago. It’s nothing original. We actually got the idea fro...

Robert Orr, of Lemon Island in the Admiralty Islands, admits he can’t draw and that he is color blind, but his prize win...

A few weeks ago, Sue-Ryn Burns called the TILT office asking permission to release a Great Horned Owl at the Crooked Cre...

Each stroke of the huge paddles brought forth a series of creaks and groans from the ancient timbers below... But the we...

For almost 150 years, the photos of Alexander Carson McIntyre, or A.C. as he was known, have been telling the story of the early history of the 1000 Islands as it became a tourist destination.

It was just before 5:30 am on June 11th when Captain Charles Dyon of the Windsolite heard the warning whistles amidst th...

Heather Chitty found a special way to honor the memory of her late father, this Father’s Day,

I carry around a little notebook with me everywhere I go that contains my current ‘to do’ list, which includes everythin...

George C. Boldt, who famously built a castle for his beloved bride on Heart Island in what would become the most tragic ...

“You know,” he began, “I’ve worked on all three ‘Wolfe Islanders’.

Imagine if there was no gas station near your home, no mechanic to fix your car, or, when at home, no place to park your...

I then knew, well before anyone else my age, that life’s basic needs were food, clothing, shelter and a boat...

I see ospreys almost everyday of the year. When I go to the grocery story, in the parking lot and ditto at the gas station...

The man is getting worse, the weather is getting worse, the clock is running, the fireboat is unable to do much assistance...

Artist and writer Michael Ringer, gave me the opportunity to peek inside his new book… Ringer’s Mountains & Valleys Northern New York...

The first Christian denomination on Grindstone was known as Christian Order founded by elder Jason McKee of Stone Mills ...

When I see a ‘saltie’, I wonder what critters might be stowed away in its ballast tanks...

In April, the website ABay.com published photographs of the crumbling boathouse on Ina Island.  The author, aka Joh...

In the spring of 2000 my husband, Doug Girvin, and I moved to the Islands.  By summer we’d become 1000 Islands boat...

I met many interesting people around the park but one particular gentleman stands out in my mind. Joe Pullaw was an old river rat, probably sixty years my senior...

Channel markers were removed from the Thousand Islands Regional Dock in Clayton last month, indicating that the 2011 shi...

Last year at this time I introduced Kim Lunman’s “Thousand Islands Ink” publishing company and her glossy magazine Islan...

If you garden in the Thousand Islands you have probably experienced this frustrating scenario: Monday evening at dusk yo...

The portal to our magical island world starts in Fishers Landing at Chalks Marina. I think my heartbeat doubles as soon...

I love the internet! It seems that not a day goes by without me marveling at the vast array of information that is avail...

“I never touched a paint brush until age thirty-five,” Kelly Curry says proudly. But in the past decade, she has painted...

"The House that Jack Built", a 161-page illustrated catalogue that examines Sherman Pratt’s remarkable and little known residence on Niagara Island...

A visit to Clayton NY on a beautiful day in April gave me the opportunity to take a photograph of the newly appointed ex...

The following excerpt is from the novel "Napoleon's Gold" by Thomas Pullyblank, forthcoming from Square Circle Press in May...

This year the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque celebrates a major landmark - its 30th Anniversary Season.  A...

Sporting a weathered Commodore's cap to Sugar Island's opening encampment ceremonies complete with traditional bugle pla...

The ice is thawing and the birds are starting to migrate back to islands. However, birds aren’t the only ones making the...

Because of daily walks on Wellesley, rarely does a day pass that I’m not out on the River. I can’t imagine visiting the ...

Getting stranded on an island with your students may sound like a teacher’s field trip nightmare, but in St. Lawrence Is...

"There's something pretty special going on here" says Scott MacCrimmon surveying the crowded room. It’s early January in...

Dennis McCarthy inspects one of the frames of the "Iroquoise" in 80 feet of water off Niagara Shoal.

Part II of a two-part biography of Henry R. Heath, a pioneer promoter of the Thousand Islands.  This is the second ...

I dug into the family archives and found some more great pictures of interesting and memorable boats that plied both the American..

In December 2010, The Finger Lakes Chapter of the Antique Classic Boating Society published this article written by Tony...

The 1st part of my trip was really fun.. the last part 'not so much'.. it was becoming Man vs Wild back there..

TI Life’s team member, Michael Folsom will be busy this summer. He is the event organizer for a special happening in Cla...

Steve Adams’ Henderson Harbor Exhausted from the endless haul, our car so hot and sticky. The floor awash with cups a...

It's one of the most familiar landmarks off the shores of Clayton, visible from the quaint village's waterfront patios a...

Our river chose many of us. Once chosen, we are life-long islanders, regardless of where we may be. Paul Malo The w...

The last two months I’ve written about my walks on Wellesley. But as with anything in life, sometimes it’s not the desti...

What a thrill it was when a package arrived recently from a man I had never met, Bill Schroeder. The envelope contained ...

100 Years Ago:  “The familiar sound of a put-put from the vicinity of Washington Island caused people to look at on...

Dan Denney’s winter experience Through the Ice - A Tale of Survival, published in January 2011, caused quite a stir....

Having grown up in Gananoque I was introduced to the joys of boating on the St. Lawrence River at an early age. My Dad, ...

Rex Ennis, local historian and author of Toujours Jeune Always Young: Thousand Islands, Emery and The New Frontenac Hote...

Tom Flanagan, whose parents and brother died in a boating accident on the river five years before,

Pullman Island stands for everything that was grand about the Thousand Islands during its gilded era a century ago and a...

The 2010 Seaway season rolled in like a lamb back at the end of March, but it wouldn’t take long for it to become nothin...

Last month, I gave you a peek at the trails of Wellesley Island State Park  (WISP). This month, I want to take you ...

Meet John Street – communications expert by profession from San Diego, California and a Thousand Island resident in the ...

Tim Jowett is a dedicated fisherman.

Thousand Islands Life thanks author Dan Denney for sharing this harrowing experience with our readers.  No matter h...

Very few of the boaters who stop by Van’s Motor Marine in Alexandria Bay have any idea that they are docking at one of t...

For many of us the beauty and uniqueness of the Thousand Islands is without question. And yet we may know little of thei...

The history of the Thousand Islands is littered with the tales of fishing and the big one that got away. Samuel Sondheim...

Women stayed in their own camp from five o’clock in the afternoon ...

A new book includes Canada's St. Lawrence Islands National Park...

A ship passes across the frigid, icy waters of Lake Ontario on a late November morning. Sea fog rises off the ripples of...

Some islands have names with stories that are just meant to be told. This little known Thousand Island off the shores of...

Thousand (1000) Islands Images is exactly what Paul and Lil have been pursuing...

Usually, ships pass with their running lights and very little else showing.

For me, walking in nature and writing are somehow connected. The more I write, the more I need to walk. In order to writ...

Who knows the correct answer? If you are a “subscriber” to TI Life, then from November to April, Canadian photographer ...

The Restoration of a Que’ Sara, a 1932 18’ Gar Wood           
...

When the Craft School opened in 1966 there were 44 students learning the art of handweaving on looms either purchased or...

A man just doesn’t get up on Christmas morning and announce to his wife of..

Higgins, the Welsh Terrier, is back for our young readers.

“Camp Grindstone,” written by Henry Eckford and illustrated by William Allen Rogers, appeared in the August 1885 issue o...

Julius Mendel Breitenbach or as he was known in 1928 “Santa Claus of the Thousand Islands,” was born in December 1890.&#...

Printing stories from websites is not always easy to do - but not anymore!

Another shipping incident, this time involving a tug and two barges in the tight quarters of the American Narrows near Alexandria Bay.

It's a crisp October afternoon in Rockport and the sky and River are postcard perfect blue. The sun is shining brightly ...

One of the best known and longest operating boat building businesses on the St. Lawrence River is Hutchinson Boat Works, Inc.

Sightseeing flights over the islands were very popular. People loved to do the unusual, talk about it and maybe get their names in the paper.

The St. Lawrence Bald Eagle Working Group, which I co-chaired for many years with my U.S. counterpart from the New York ...

We usually close up, leave the island and head south after Columbus Day. This year we left early as our son Rob got marr...

You could always tell the river kids who were living the really good life from the ones who were not. It had nothing to do with family fortunes

No trip to this area would be complete without a cruise of the 1,000 Islands. My narrated two-hour cruise aboard the Sea Prince 11 was the best.

A well-recognized structure among the islands is The Thousand Islands Bridge, operated by The Thousands Islands Bridge A...

Tom Massey’s was a fisherman, tour boat captain and tug boat skipper, but one of his most important attributes was being...

Paper work. Mounds and mounds of paper work pile high on a desk in an office over the summer months – a common sight for...

As a nautical hitchhiker, I've explored the Thousand Islands by tall ship, cruise ship, power boat, canoe skiff, Sea-Doo...

My brother and I spent every summer weekend on Calumet Island in the 1960s...

I learned to fish here in the Thousand Islands the year before we were married. My husband, Gary, grew up fishing. It wa...

Bill Munro, a photographer with a keen eye, has a simple-and-sensible philosophy about taking pictures: To get great pic...

Looking up the history of Hill Island's Lot #7 we discovered monsters and murderers...

Tuesday 3 May 1898 the First National Bank of Carthage did not open its doors for business. Why had the directors posted...

My earliest recollection of "River Runner", our spectacular 1926 Hutchinson Brothers sedan, was of a gray painted work

Hunched, damp and tired, we look at the scribbled number on the page and debate calling the U.S. Coast Guard. Almost 24-...

My co-workers warned me that June seems to skip right into September and everything in between is just a blur. How true it is,

Marilyn Lee stepped out of the classic wooden boat Teal and onto the shores of Fairyland Island for the first time in 47...

“The real drama came when a boat ferrying a dozen of our weddings guests, including my wife Nina, began to take on water over the transom...

Edwin A. Link could fix most any machine, but all he really wanted to do, was fly...

Our 1902 St Lawrence Skiff “Bobby” was my salvation as a teenager. It was 1961 and our cottage on Comfort Island was easy rowing distance from Alexandria Bay, NY.

When I met Anthony (Tony) Mollica at a recent gathering, I told him that I...

Karen Bockus and her friends have cooked up a creative way to give people a chance to observe professional artists at wo...

It is not often that the best and brightest assemble in the Thousand Islands – but this year they are coming to the Rive...

This story begins in the winter of 2009. My wife Amanda, and I had started...

Tucked in a corner of Sackets Harbor is a reminder of our military heritage, and of the generations of veterans who live...

A "microburst" swept through the Thousand Islands last month, uprooting trees, damaging cottages and leaving some island...

I remember the first time I saw a loon. It was in the early 1980’s, because we still had that small aluminum fishing boa...

The Antique Boat Museum's 46th Annual Boat Show in Clayton, held over the July 30th - August 1st weekend, attracted over 7000 visitors

The sinking was first reported to police by Mrs. Walter Wells. “It was a great boom which woke me up. Then we began to hear people

August bring its rewards:  usually, much better, night-sky viewing; unique planetary alignments; Northern-Lights; s...

St. Lawrence Pottery located on Route 12N about  5 miles east of Clayton, features John Arnot’s ceramic art as well...

What’s in a Building? Bricks, mortar and a lot of wood. But the Gananoque Canoe Club (GCC), now known as the Thousand Is...

Readers of TIL are aware that one hundred and sixty Patriots were taken prisoner at the Battle of the Windmill near Pres...

The following excerpt is from the novel Napoleon's Gold by Thomas Pullyblank, forthcoming in spring or summer of 2011. ...

This article is written for our young readers... They call me Higgins. I am a Welsh Terrier and proud of it.

At roughly 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 4, Algobay had made its way past Singer Castle and began drifting out of the channe...

Michael Ringer almost chose “Shop” when he was in Grade 7, but his best friend suggested that the two of them sign up fo...

Baguettes, berets, French pastries, Canada's flag flying while “O’Canada” is being belted out from a singer on a main st...

One of my favorite locations to photograph in the Islands is along Crooked Creek, located about a mile east of Kring Point ...

I read about the “Mystery of Maple Island” my very first season on the island. So I’m long familiar with the legend that...

The schooner Roseway tied up to the dock at Frink’s Park in Clayton, New York, on June 25th. It was a cool, dreary, drip...

It was one of those “hot summer days” when I first watched Thousand Island Park Now and Then.  The thirty-minute DV...

Don't look now – But there is a woman watching you!  Unless you are a boater passing Brockville, or a keen obser...

The nine passenger single engine plane chartered from Carson Air in Toronto picked up a newlywed couple who had spent th...

Louis Richards wrote, "It is a chapter in the story ...

When TI Life received a photograph of an Osprey fishing for his dinner, we immediately looked for the source.  We d...

The Central New York winter season has become my model building time. Several models have been built for collectors...

As our neighbor says, “Cottage life isn’t for sissies.” He says it with a smile though and we all know what it means.

Consistent with our mission of raising the bar, Thousand Island Life seeks to recognize exceptional quality. A new enter...

Under the probation system, prisoners were awarded tickets of leave (a form of probation) for good conduct following two years of hard labour. Many of the Patriots received

  On the night of Tuesday, May 29, 1838 between 12 and 1 o’clock one of the inmates of the ladies cabin on the S...

Let’s settle the nagging question of which came first: the name or the fiddler?

A new book by Rex Ennis...

What do you get when a whole town collaborates to put on a River Festival?

Ian Coristine has constantly told his friends, that "raising the bar" in the Thousand Islands is our Number One task and...

Beijing,China-Vancouver,BC-Chicago & Brockville-Clayton These are just a few of the stops on The Great Lake Swimmers’ 2010 Tour.

One of the most luxurious steam yachts of the Thousand Islands was a floating fixture on the St. Lawrence River during t...

As the first decade of the new millennium has passed, this writer has met many people in our community who ask “what doe...

Clayton's Fred Schmitt has accepted the Board of Trustees’ offer to succeed John MacLean as Executive Director of the Antique Boat Museum.

Most folks on the River know me as the Executive Director of Save The River, but I also wear a few additional hats – yea...

It is early in the shipping season, however there is a lot happening in the region related to the St. Lawrence Seaway. ...

Non-island friends are always curious about how we get things to the island. There’s only one answer…by boat.

Betsey Fitch of Rutland, NY was given Lot 16. Lots 19 and 20 were sold to William Wells of Augusta, Upper Canada for a total of $1,340.00.

For the past three months, Robert L. Matthews has given our readers a unique peek at those long forgotten illustrators w...

Every spring begins as the birds migrate, the snow melts and the little white and green tug boat sitting in Massena, New...

Kim Lunman publishes the premiere issue of an annual magazine on the Thousand Islands.

Sherman C. Ward Jr. is one half of the dynamic duo known as Sherman & Ann. A busy man with many roles: Director, Pla...

Henry R. Heath was one of the visionary builders of the Gilded Age. However, Heath was not always destined ...

“Number please?” “Hello... Hello Mabel?” the female voice on the other end of the line was near panic. “Can you get Doctor Regan?

Charles S. Graham was an itinerant, self taught sketch artist born 1852 in Illinois.

I captained the old Snider 1000 Islands tour boats from 1978 to 1980...

Music has been part of island life on Grenell since Uncle Otis had a heavy square grand piano pulled across the ice back...

One can’t discuss boat builders in the Thousand Islands without talking about Joseph Leyare.

After finishing a documentary DVD, a book, and then an updated version of our movie, we were pretty sure that we had com...

In 1867 the Marquess of Queensbury brought structure to the sport of prize fighting. These rules instituted the three mi...

We were headed back upriver, the last scheduled ride on a sunny, August Sunday afternoon. The boat was running well, sli...

March and spring may share the same month on the calendar in the Thousand Islands but they are so very often not on the ...

The Thousand Islands region is filled with picturesque settings, making it a photographer’s heaven. This photographer ho...

The people at the Frontenac Arch Biosphere organization recently invited Andrea Mossop to do an on-the-spot painting dur...

The Darlingside store is located on the St. Lawrence  River, east of the Thousand Island Bridge, on the Canadian sh...

  For me, there are only three seasons: Pre-River Season, River Season and Post-River Season. Pre-River Season s...

The news in the last few years coming from Albany would bring a challenge to even the greatest of optimists. One look at...

I’m editing a cookbook.  Those of you who know me well must be savoring the irony. Don’t get me wrong – I like to e...

"...My parents remembered Alexandria Bay when it was only a “wooding station: where boats landed for fuel.

In the February issue of Thousand Islands Life Magazine we introduced Howard Pyle, one of North America’s premier illust...

Peter appeared in our boatyard. It was a long time since we’d seen each other. "Young Roger!" Peter hailed me, stepping...

As the jacket notes describe: "most charming...

Listen to the audio version as read by Jan Eliot  Some islands tell a story. Grindstone Island tells many of them....

The island road twists through a series of snake-like turns and suddenly there it is - Thousand Island Park- a bit of Am...

Flags abound in the islands. At Grenell Island’s July 2009 regatta, participants were asked to count the flags as they p...

Despite the intentions of the Poker Run, it is frequently cited by environmentalists as an example of conspicuous consumption and pollution.

The second in a series on illustrators of the Thousand Islands.

Part XII and final chapter of Kristen Pinkney's research

The early morning mist drapes...

When the St. Lawrence River freezes over, one mode of transportation is by “ice boat” or “air boat”, as they are called ...

In its second year and with over sixty entries the current winter exhibition at the Arts Center is a showcase of photos ...

“It is amazing how there are so many Taylor drawings which have been printed and reprinted over the past century – yet so little is known about the man. “

Note:  See the complementary Article about Frank H. Taylor in this issue: Nancy L. Gustke’s “The Special Artis...

Anyone who has spent any time in the Thousand Islands becomes accustomed to its creatures... NEW: Audio by Jan Eliot

It wasn’t used and it took up too much space. Yet, chopping it up with an ax and burning it was not an option.

...the season would go in the books as one of the worst since the early 1960s in terms of tonnage. The 25% decrease in cargo volume ...

It isn't easy When I first thought of over-wintering, I thought of all the free time to do just as I pleased. Perhaps a ...

Well today is the fourth of July. I have had a delightful day.

Consistent with our mission of raising the bar, Thousand Island Life seeks to recognize special tributes.

Pilots, by the very nature of their profession, become experts of the waters in their district. They are the logical adv...

The capitalists, the builders of our country, made the Thousand Islands their playground in what we call today the “Gold...

Seasons of change can be felt in many ways. Summer heat and rain changes to cool fall days with blowing leaves and the b...

As snow falls over the River against a backdrop of a chalk white sky, I can't help but think of summer in the Thousand I...

Greg Lago welcomes winter. Everyday, snowy or not, Lago makes his way to his studio on James Street “The good thing abou...

Captain Leath Davis can trace his Wolfe Island roots to the pioneer Hitchcock family who obtained a charter to start a ferry service to Kingston from Wolfe Island.

"Tidd’s Island: a History of its People and Their Stories" was published in July of 2009

Last night we had a delightful serenade. I wonder who it was. He passed the Island five times singing...

Like so many inhabitants of the northern regions, the moose is one that when spotted, is a sight to behold.

Last year we discovered the photography of Andrew B King, (January 2009) who lives on Black Duck Island (Admiralty Islan...

It looks like it could be the end of an era for the last antique wooden tour boat in the Thousand Islands. The Morrisani...

However, once the sun has set, the St. Lawrence River has, amidst all its beauty, a very dark underbelly that continues to this day.

By the time I first arrived on Grenell Island in 1975, my husband’s family had already been on the Point, for nearly a h...

After close to a year spent collecting information, answering questions, copying documents...

It is so beautiful here now nice and pleasant just like

“I am very concerned with the welfare of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald."[New feature,now available in an audio version, written by Brian Johnson, Wolfe Island; read by Jan Eliot]

I love that place. The way that the dock can stretch for miles upon miles Until you reach the white capped river crashin...

Nobody seemed to know whose idea it was to have a junk day in River Valley, but when people saw the small ad in the Week...

The first Wolfe Island lighthouse was built on the eastern end of the island in 1861...

Tasmania seems like a distant land but for John Carter, Tasmania is a treasure trunk waiting to be opened...

Storybook bridges. Broomstick Castle. An historic boathouse and an idyllic summer retreat called The Folly. This is Fair...

The Pullmans were the first of the islanders to arrive by private railroad car -a sumptuous conveyance, as might be expected of the railroad car builder.

Nobody likes Jury Duty, but for Prudence Matthews, in 1992, it was life-changing. “I knew we could not talk about the t...

The greatest way to experience the Thousand Islands is from the water. Each hidden channel, quiet cove, and marshy bay holds little secrets

Saw Pansy this am. Took a walk and talked over the affair last night. Did not have our hats on.

Janet was five, when her parents bought the cottage on Grenell Island, and it's where she spent her summers. She became ...

Finding a particular photograph, identifying an individual or an historic fact is like finding “gold” to a researcher. ...

For 66 years the legendary “Muskie” Jake Huntley led guests of The Gananoque Inn and Spa on their quest for the illusive muskellunge.

“Warning:  Owners of large and medium sized craft, who navigate the St. Lawrence River between Cornwall and Prescot...

The Ontario landscape has long been known for its ideal geographical location for growing grapes. However, to many of us...

I stepped out onto the grass on a dull gray July morning. Before me, I could see the great St. Lawrence River. The waves...

In 1984 there were three famous men best known for fighting evil spirits which had taken New York City by storm. They to...

D.F. (Dani) Baker and her partner, David Belding, are the owners of  "Cross Island Farms" - one of the region's bes...

In November 1901, Richard Standish Williamson acquired an island in the St. Lawrence River.  Standish, born in 1877...

When my husband proposed to me back in 1974, he asked if I would consider getting married on the island. At that point i...

Mary Lynn Johnston was a Mille Roches girl She had an important chore, while her Mother ran a rooming house And her ...

He wants me to think of him at twelve o’clock and

In 1988 I went to England to carry out research at the National Maritime Archives in Greenwich and the

Change is constant in our world, and certainly in our region. While the focus in the Thousand Islands, more often than n...

A scene from a new Hollywood pirate movie? This spectacular setting on the St. Lawrence River is the backdrop for Toronto folk band Great Lake Swimmers newest music video.

Down at Zina’s Barber Shop we used to laugh and sing; We’d gather and we’d gossip about everything; we’d talk about the ...

Painted over 40 years before, it is the center line of what once was a two lane highway which ran along the shore of a very different River.

Jerry Huck is at the wheel of his Boston Whaler heading west out of his native Rockport on the St. Lawrence River toward...

After mowing the lawn in front of the camp, I took out my snorkeling mask last weekend to cool off and check out the riv...

We're not talking "Pony Express", but about a more-personalized mail service than most receive today, a service that is cherished and greatly appreciated.

What’s one of the very first things you think of after purchasing a new boat? Perhaps you think to yourself, what will I...

Spring of 2007, we returned to Grenell Island to find a display of breath-taking paintings in the Grenell Island Communi...

Saturday August 1st, proved to be a perfect day on the St. Lawrence River in the Admiralty Islands for the first Annual ...

Lynn Beahm, at Arcadia Publishing, sent us several photos of postcards and a description of Arcadia’s recent:  Post...

One of the best ways to see a spectacular string of islands known as the Admiralty Group in the St. Lawrence River is up...

“No one panicked while they were floundering in the water and scrambling for firm ice. Mothers held their children aloft...

It was a good day of fishing on the St. Lawrence River for Floyd Pickerton.  So good, he figured he’d buy everybody...

Random thoughts and photographs about our not so random seasons. If you are reading this, chances are you have visited...

As with surgery, I will never know all there is to know about boating. Moving from being a recreational boater to a mariner is similar.

There was no cake with candles, no singing around the table to the birthday child and no gifts wrapped in multi-colored ...

The Thousand Islands Association (TIA) will be holding their annual general meeting on July 25 at the Thousand Islands P...

A note from a young Grindstone Island summer resident was brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago, citing a need f...

It was a cold and rainy day on June 1st – but the invitation to meet Mike Franklin, Patricia Tague and Rhea Jenkner and ...

…after four hours of continuous searching bleak coves and small inlets, both groups were almost ready to announce that t...

For over sixty years, “Niagara to the Sea” was one of the most famous travel slogans in North America. The phrase was or...

Great Lake Swimmers Back in River Tony Dekker, the lead musician of the Great Lake Swimmers, rests his hand on the helm...

My family was fortunate to call the Balboa our summer home in the Thousand Islands from 1955 to 2008 and it has served...

About 10,000 thunderstorms occur in Ontario during a typical summer and only about 1% of these are "severe"

The morning trip through Crooked Creek follows a route that brings a myriad of contemplations as well as a collage of co...

What went down in history as the Battle of the Thousand Islands ended when the French and Canadian defenders struck thei...

Dudley Danielson is a man who has done just about everything in life, working as a (talented) professional photographer...

Great Lake Swimmers are coming June 6th! Celebrating the Maritime Discovery Center of the Thousand Islands. Eighteen m...

    The following was received in mid-April: Dear Susan, ...

A  documentary that takes viewers beneath the St. Lawrence River to a wreck at the bottom the Brockville Narrows is...

"The World is a wondrous place, rich with texture, color and form, where the magic of light creates an ever changing sta...

One of the unique elements in the Thousand Islands region is our ability to travel between our two countries with relati...

April's TI Life listed Watch Island on the "Properties" page where we post important properties of the region that are f...

  I was once spotted by innocent onlookers who crowned me to be the "crazy guy in a little boat with a big flag," i...

As the new season begins on the River, I’m pleased to offer this Sixth online edition of POLLACK’S GAZETTEER OF THE THOU...

The Peacock Yacht House succumbed to a fire in early 1990’s leaving only the

The tradition of worship in Half Moon Bay began in 1887.  People came from neighbouring islands and from Gananoque ...

In August of 1897, at a meeting of the New York State Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission in Albany a discussion was h...

"Mr. Grey is a beautiful dancer. It is like a dream dancing with him. I wish I knew him better." May Dewey, January 21, ...

Spending the month of August every summer of my youth at my Grandmother's cottage in Thousand Island Park was a child's ...

In March we announced that Ian Coristine's photographs were featured in the March

It started out innocently enough with a cookbook. Then came the song sheets

  This month we welcome Phil Chadwick, aka "Phil the Forecaster", to TI Life, as an artist. Although he trained at ...

The year was 1959. The Barbie doll debuted;

"I was furious & will tell him what I think of him when we meet again." May Dewey, December 31, 1888.

The first time we saw the Inn was in spring, on a day bursting with the promise of a fresh season. The grass was almost ...

Editor's Note:  This month we received two short stories written by friends who paddle together in the summer. Both...

Whoever controlled the St. Lawrence River controlled Canada. The Americans never cut the lifeline of British supplies during the War of 1812...

July 17th will be a special day in Clayton. Two regional arts organizations,

In January the River took its leave, pulled a thick white blanket over itself, and rested. Freed from the turmoil of thr...

Comfort Island is for sale. . .  When Paul Malo created Thousand Islands Life in 2006, he created a Properties page...

Growing up in the Thousand Islands the old homes and

Patricia and Robert Mondore received good news this

Ice on the mighty St. Lawrence is beginning to thaw, but as light snow fell on the morning of February 22, nearly thirty...

We were going to contact you about going airboating with us, but we had a small mishap a few weeks ago.

It can be said every island has its magic. But not every island has its own magician. Honey Bee Island is the summer ho...

The Thousand Islands Biological Station (TIBS) is located on Governor's Island, near Clayton, NY, and is an important re...

The images below were part of a first-time exhibition titled "The Glass River"

I have absolutely no doubt this scene was played out on countless waterways and lakes in the area. The fact that it took...

Have you ever wanted to help the River, but you were not quite sure what to do?  Save The River, an environmental o...

Are the remains of Geronimo in the Thousand Islands? The legendary Apache Chief died

"Well the Pullmans have all left & we are here all alone in our glory.

In January, Phil Chadwick read Dr. Richard Withington's "A Winter Islander" story and offered to write about the weather...

  Some sleep in queen-sized beds on luxury yachts, some sleep under the Thousand Islands sky in a sleeping bag, but...

For the formative years of my career I shot news and documentary programming on 16mm film and later tape. It was the bes...

A “Monster” muskie was caught in the Thousand Islands on November 28th by Ottawa resident Dale MacNair who was with his ...

PRESCOTT: The Canadian Empress is about to set sail from the Fort Town to its next port of call - Brockville - with passengers from all over North America

In listening to the Inauguration, I was struck by our new President's call for individual responsibility. As I thought a...

Have you seen the terns circling over their nests on the Eagle Wing Shoals? When was the last time you walked the Macshe...

"Ella & I did nothing much today. Edgewood has closed & everything is on the decline. I received a letter from L...

The January issue was sent in the late evening and by morning my mailbox received comments, questions and offers to contribute. That was great!

February, the dead of winter, and here we are thinking spring. We asked Roland Pootmans and his wife, Danielle, if they ...

Kim Lunman wrote about John Keats in our January issue (Of Time and an Author) and we all appreciate the Trilogy written...

Snow has covered summer cottage roofs, boats have been shrink wrapped and placed in marina parking lots and ice is formi...

When I envisioned a visit to the Thousand Islands Winery, I imagined the grandeur of Boldt Castle, the upscale atmosphere that typifies the Saint Lawrence River experience. I expected a graying gentleman

Andy King spends most of the summer on Black Duck Island in the Admiralty Islands.  We say "most" because Andy also...