A Thousand Islands and One Heart

HEART ISLAND, N.Y. —  Thousand Island salad dressing was named after the Thousand Islands, a group of islands scattered along a 50-mile path of the St. Lawrence River that separates New York State from Ontario, Canada.

There are actually 1,800 islands in the archipelago, a third in the United States, two-thirds in Canada.

Of all the Thousand Islands, Heart Island is perhaps the most intriguing. Its legacy is a fascinating but sad love story.

It was purchased at the turn of the century by millionaire George Boldt, the manager of the Waldorf Astoria, who set about having the 5-acre island dredged in the shape of a heart as a demonstration of his love for his wife, Louise.

Then from 1900 to 1904 Boldt employed a work force of 300 men to construct a replica of a 6-story, 120-room German castle in the middle of the island.

To furnish the castle, the Boldts made several trips to Europe, spending a fortune on statues, paintings, tapestries, furniture, rugs, mosaics, dinnerware and carvings.

Boldt had hundreds of hearts carved on the exterior and interior of the castle as expressions of his great love for Louise.

By 1904 some $2.5 million had been spent on the structure. The exterior was about complete, and masons, electricians, carpenters and painters were busy on the inside when a telegram from Boldt arrived at the castle, instructing the workmen to lay down their tools. Their job was done.

That was the day Louise Boldt, 45, died of consumption.

The castle stood vacant, unfinished. Boldt never set foot on Heart Island again. He died in 1916.

The castle slowly deteriorated over the years until 1978 when the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, operators of the 8-mile international bridge connecting the United States and Canada and crossing over to the islands, purchased Heart Island and the castle.

For $3 the bridge authority allows visitors to tour the Heart Island grounds and see the inside of the castle. Shane Sanford, who manages the island, reports that $4 million have been spent in stabilizing and restoring the castle the past three years.

“We expect it will take at least another $5 million to bring the castle, the grounds and the other structures on Heart Island to the condition they were in when Mrs. Boldt died,” Sanford said.

At the turn of the century, many of America’s wealthiest families had mansions on these islands, including the Kelloggs of breakfast food fame, the Heinemans of Buster Brown Shoes, George Pullman of railroads sleeping cars. President Ulysses S. Grant vacationed on Pullman’s island.

More than 300 of the islands are less than an acre, big enough only for a home and a dock. Just-Room-Enough is one of the the tiny one-house islands. Lone Tree Island has a house and one tree.

Paul Quackenbush, 53, has the only house on Friendly Island where he lives year-round. It’s 2.1 acres. Ships from all over the world sail within a few feet of Quackenbush’s shoreline home.

“We can almost reach out and shake hands with the captain on the bridge of the large ships, sailing from England, France, Italy, Russia, China, from all over the world to Great Lakes ports,” said Quackenbush.

“My two sons, Pieter, 5, and Tony, 9, amuse themselves by keeping a log with the names of the ships, where they’re from, when they went by. We wave to people on the ships. They wave back. Sometimes a ship will blast a long and two shorts--which means hello--as they go by the house.”

Quackenbush commutes to work by motorboat except during the winter months when he walks across the frozen river the quarter mile to the mainland. The St. Lawrence Seaway is not open December to April when the river is full of ice.

Larry Cuppernal and his wife, Catherine, moved to Grindstone, one of the larger islands, 13 years ago. “We came here because we didn’t want our kids growing up on the streets with drug problems,” explained Cuppernal. They have eight children who range in age from 10 to 22.

Until last year Grindstone Island, with 50 year-round residents, had the only one-room schoolhouse in New York. But it closed when enrollment fell this fall to two. It’s two miles from the island to the mainland.

“During the winter, the weather gets snotty, 45 below zero, blizzards. The river is full of ice. So from December to April our kids live on the mainland near school and come home weekends, weather permitting. The school board provides room and board for them to stay with friends,” said Cuppernal.

Real estate broker Natalie Honeywell in Alexandria Bay on the New York mainland noted that there are always islands and shoals for sale: “Shoals are little more than huge rocks that are under water part of the year. Shoals sell for as much as $8,000 to $10,000 each. There are about 100 shoals in the thousand islands group. People like the idea of having their own private shoal to tie up a boat and hold picnics.”

Honeywell has individual islands, with one home and a dock, for sale ranging from $250,000 to $800,000.

The vast majority of the houses on the islands are second homes used only during the summer. They are boarded up the rest of the year. Telephone and electricity is provided by underwater cables.

Lily Clarke, 71, won 180-foot-long, 70-foot-wide Paradise Island complete with a new home, dock and $12,000 boat with a $2 raffle ticket from the Ongwanada Hospital in Kingston, Ont.

“Paradise is a beautiful island with a lovely view,” Clarke said. “My husband and I kept it two years, but, you know, we’re both older, and it was impractical for us. And I don’t swim. I was always afraid I would fall off the boat.

“We sold the island during a period when the economy was depressed and received less than $100,000 for it. It would bring much more than that now.”

A Canadian chamber of commerce years ago notified Arthur Godfrey he would be given unoccupied Florence Island as a gift if he would come to the island and sing “Florence of the St. Lawrence.” “Mr. Godfrey never showed up,” said Cindy Chaltain of the Thousand Islands International Council.

Skull and Bones, the Yale University secret society founded in 1832, owns Deer Island where there are three cottages for members. Yale’s biology department owns Horse Island set aside for ecological studies.

Deer and other wildlife swim back and forth, from island to island in summer. In winter, they walk across the frozen river.

From June to September, a popular swimming hole is Lake of the Islands, an area of calm water embraced by a number of small islands. It has a floating hot dog stand from June to September.

Church services on one island are conducted with the congregation all in boats. Ushers paddle back and forth in canoes handing out prayer books and hymnals.

Canadian islands fly Canadian flags, American islands, American flags. Julie and Don Rickerd of Toronto fly the American flag, the Canadian flag and the Hungarian flag on Zavicon Islands, which include a 1.5-acre Canadian island and a half-acre American island connected by bridge.

Why the Hungarian flag? Hungary was Mrs. Rickerd’s birthplace. Elmer Andress, 77, caretaker of the Zavicons said the island name is Indian meaning “my tepee.”

Casino Island once had a gambling casino that was struck by lightning and burned. A few of the islands had a restaurant at one time in their history. One had a dance hall.

Restaurants in Clayton and Alexandria Bay on the American side and in Kingston, Gananoque and Brockville on the Canadian side feature homemade Thousand Island salad dressing.

A hotel in Alexandria Bay claims their chef invented the famous dressing, but the most reliable story gives credit to the famous chef, Oscar of the Waldorf, who concocted it for the first time while cruising on Boldt’s yacht.