Chimney Island / Bridge Island / Fort Lévis
EXPLORED #466 July 15, 2009
The Ogdensburg News of Thursday Morning, July 17, 1919
Announced: Historical (Landmarks Association of Canada Would Mark Site of Fort — Has a romantic
Past — Old Chimney Stood for Years After Demobilization of Military WorksBuilt in 1814.
Other headlines that day included:
RECKLESS AUTO DRIVING.
HAS NOT HAD AN HOURS SICKNESS - Since He Commenced to Take "Fruit-a-tives"
AEROPLANES' FUTURE.
Quite a discovery in my search for a little history on Chimney Island, also known as Bridge Island in the St. Lawrence River, from my slow road to Toronto in May.
What I also discovered , was that there is a fascinating amount of material from archives that has been scanned or photographed and is now available for us all to view.
This is what I learned from various sources:
In the survey conducted by Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen in 1816 this was called Bridge Island. The first person to build a house on the island did so in 1799. As soon as the river was navigable in the spring, he went to Kingston for limestone to build his chimney. During the War of 1812, a block house was built on the island. The chimney and accommodations were described by one soldier as "the worst I have ever witnessed. I stayed one night in the place and between the smoke and the cold it was intolerable". Although the blockhouse disappeared, the chimney remained for 100 years. In 1913, it was rebuilt by William Gilbert, a summer resident of Tar Island. The new chimney was "absolutely modern and efficient and guaranteed not to smoke".
It was also know as 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 the St. Lawrence against the British. Named for François Gaston de Lévis, Duc de Lévis, the fort was constructed on Isle Royale, three miles downstream from the other fort. Although some military people wanted a stone fort, it was built of wood, in a four bastioned, square configuration.
It was short-lived as a French fort, being captured by Major-General Amherst in August 1760 in the Battle of the Thousand Islands. Captain Patrick Sinclair was left to secure the area while Amherst proceeded on his way to attack Montreal.
The fort was rebuilt by the British as Fort William Augustus. The island, Chimney Island (or Isle Royale), on which the fort stood was partially destroyed during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950s. The submerged location is near Ogdensburg, New York
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_L%c3%a9vis
Chimney Island / Bridge Island / Fort Lévis
EXPLORED #466 July 15, 2009
The Ogdensburg News of Thursday Morning, July 17, 1919
Announced: Historical (Landmarks Association of Canada Would Mark Site of Fort — Has a romantic
Past — Old Chimney Stood for Years After Demobilization of Military WorksBuilt in 1814.
Other headlines that day included:
RECKLESS AUTO DRIVING.
HAS NOT HAD AN HOURS SICKNESS - Since He Commenced to Take "Fruit-a-tives"
AEROPLANES' FUTURE.
Quite a discovery in my search for a little history on Chimney Island, also known as Bridge Island in the St. Lawrence River, from my slow road to Toronto in May.
What I also discovered , was that there is a fascinating amount of material from archives that has been scanned or photographed and is now available for us all to view.
This is what I learned from various sources:
In the survey conducted by Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen in 1816 this was called Bridge Island. The first person to build a house on the island did so in 1799. As soon as the river was navigable in the spring, he went to Kingston for limestone to build his chimney. During the War of 1812, a block house was built on the island. The chimney and accommodations were described by one soldier as "the worst I have ever witnessed. I stayed one night in the place and between the smoke and the cold it was intolerable". Although the blockhouse disappeared, the chimney remained for 100 years. In 1913, it was rebuilt by William Gilbert, a summer resident of Tar Island. The new chimney was "absolutely modern and efficient and guaranteed not to smoke".
It was also know as 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 the St. Lawrence against the British. Named for François Gaston de Lévis, Duc de Lévis, the fort was constructed on Isle Royale, three miles downstream from the other fort. Although some military people wanted a stone fort, it was built of wood, in a four bastioned, square configuration.
It was short-lived as a French fort, being captured by Major-General Amherst in August 1760 in the Battle of the Thousand Islands. Captain Patrick Sinclair was left to secure the area while Amherst proceeded on his way to attack Montreal.
The fort was rebuilt by the British as Fort William Augustus. The island, Chimney Island (or Isle Royale), on which the fort stood was partially destroyed during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950s. The submerged location is near Ogdensburg, New York
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_L%c3%a9vis