History of Thousand Island Park

“Wellesley Island is also the home to Thousand Island Park. The charm of Thousand Island Park derives from many things:  its splendid setting, its sense of detachment, and its special social history, but not the least from its delightful buildings. The Thousand Island Park Historic District is a unique collection of late 19th and early 20th century structures, and the only surviving example of the late 19th-century summer religious colonies found in the Thousand Islands region. The architecture of the buildings derives its characteristics from the prominent styles of the 19th century:Tent Platform Style,  Queen Anne, Eastlake, Stick style, Shingle style and later Bungalow. A more precise architectural description of the cottages in the Park may be found in the Thousand Park Landmark Society office.   This is a 19th-century town, which has changed very little from a more than a century ago. There is a strong sense of community here and the happy quality of the buildings in the Park is a natural expression of the people who built them and continue to use them.”

Source:
New York Times Magazine 1997



                          COLUMBIAN HOTEL BEFORE AND AFTER
                                              THE  GREAT FIRE 1912


Thousand Island Park  possesses a rich and vibrant history and also survived  difficult and devastating times.  The Park is located on the southwest side of Wellesley Island in the heart of the Thousand Islands.    The Park was originally a Chautauqua campground founded in 1875.   A dramatic fire in the summer of 1912 started  in one of the shops where the Guzzle is now located,  then spread to the Columbian Hotel on the Main Green.  The fire destroyed the business center  and 200 cottages and left this community in ruins. There are now 320 cottages left in this Victorian community.   

 Thousand Island Park is the product of the Chautauqua tradition for people who could not travel to Lake Chautauqua New York, “Mother Chautauqua” as it was called.   The word "chautauqua" is Iroquois and means either "two moccasins tied together" or "jumping fish." Whatever the precise etymology, it's clear the word described a lake in western New York which by the Civil War was known as Chautauqua Lake. 

From the late 19th-century to about 1932, taking its name from Lake Chautauqua, New York, where Sunday School teachers gathered annually for a week of bible study, the Chautauqua movement grew into a touring program of lectures, music, and socializing under a big tent in the summer time. At its height in 1924 the movement saw these week-long programs visit 12,000 towns and entertain 32,000,000 (that's million) people.   By 1900 there were two hundred pavilions in thirty-one states.  Each furnished vacation blended with study and entertainment.   

People coming to Thousand Island Park and  other Chatauquas brought camping gear and furniture and would set up a tent city surrounding the open air Tabernacle for a week or more.  Campers preferred the  prime lots closest to he Tabenacle which they  leased   from the Thousand Island Park Corporation.  The Tabernacle was the center for socialization and participating  in the  Chautauqua programs which  included religious studies, Sunday school institutes, outdoor recreation, travel lectures, temperance rallies, discussion of social reforms, and political speeches.

                                                 THE TABERNACLE

Most participants, ranging from 600 to 6,000, came by rail car to the mainland across from Wellesley Island.  They then ferried to Thousand Island Park eager to share in the opportunities for rest, recreation, intellectual, moral, religious and aesthetic culture and social enjoyments.  It had its special inspiration for everyone, from the child to adult. No one could attend without being made stronger, better and happier.

As the popularity of the Thousand Island Park‘s campground grew, the family tents turned into wooden cottages designed to look like tents which gave forth to the name Tent Style cottages. The sizing of the lots for tent platforms and the fact that all materials had to be brought in by boat or across the ice in the winter resulted in rather unique combinations of building styles and materials.  In the earliest days, if one wanted more than a tent on a platform, more permanent construction could begin, but it was only a wooden front facade with canvas sides.  From these modest beginnings, sides were added, then sometimes even windows and doors, porches and additions, often of scabbed materials from packing crates, portions of which can still be found in some of the current cottages.  The majority of cottages started with the modest tent style and then expanded with additions over the years and lots of bric a brac  ornamentation.
   

                            CHAUTAUQUA TENT CAMPGROUND

The cottages multiplied and seemingly competed  with whimsical   gingerbread decorations  and stained glass windows. The adornments were  inspired by the river  as evidenced by the intricate cut out flowers, fish, herons and bull rushes in these ornamentations.   The cottages  were characteristic of the popular architectural styles of the 19th century; Queen Anne, Eastlake, Stick style, Shingle style, and Tent Platform style.  After the  Great Fire of 1912, as it was often referred to, many Bungalow style cottages began to appear on the Park. It doesn't take much imagination to pick out the Tent Platform style cottages on the Park which were erected from the original dimensions of the tent’s wooden platform. In true campground tradition, these Victorian cottages were built on the same small lots where the tents once stood, making Thousand Island Park, then and now, an icon of a close-knit community in more ways than one.

VIVAKANANDA RETREAT COTTAGE

Also,  intertwined in Thousand Island Park's rich history is the Vivakananda cottage which serves as a summer retreat house for followers of the Ramakrishna Order of India  founded by Swami Vivakananda in 1897.   In 1894, Swami Vivekananda journeyed from India to address the World Parliament of Religion, part of the Columbian Exposition. It was through his efforts that Hinduism became well-known in the West. His seven-week stay at the park allowed him to work with "a small group of disciples who would carry on his work in America after he left." The cottage at which he stayed, since known as "Vivekananda Cottage," is a chapel today. It is not uncommon for pilgrims on world-wide tours of sacred Hindu places to visit the site. Here in the West, the  Order's role  has been that of spiritual teaching and guidance, with 13 Vedanta(Hindu) Centers in North America, 1  in Argentina and 5 in Europe.  Today, one hundred years later, the cottage stands much as it was then, revered as a sacred place by followers of his teachings.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and this was true of the Chautauqua  movement in TIP which finally ended in the early 1930's .  Half of the Victorian cottages had already been destroyed in the fire.  Improved communication and transportation in rural areas made radio and movies readily available and made the movement a thing of the past.  In 1931, George Dalgety suggested that Chautauqua had ceased to exist “because it arose out of a passing need.  It gave the people in good measure what they wanted and brightened millions of otherwise drab lives.  But whatever is, was, its day is gone.”     The Depression of the 1930's dealt the final blow to the Park.  In the years that followed, Thousand Island Park fell upon bad economic times, and suffered from neglect and apathy.  The Chautauqua movement evolved and ended.  It was the end of an enlightened era.
  
                History of Thousand Island Park Landmark Society

                                                        THE GUZZLE
  

A few blocks away, you arrive at the Four Corners and  the "Guzzle" a classic old fashioned soda fountain  and candy  shop where penny candy  is still available.  The Guzzle is open for breakfast , lunch and dinner.   The  before and after movie crowd  meet here to enjoy their favorite  ice cream delight and socialize with neighbors and friends.
 

                                          THE WELLESLEY HOTEL

For evening dining,  if you prefer a  more formal atmosphere , candlelight and Victorian ambiance are just a few steps away at The Wellesley Hotel .  It is the North Country's choice restaurant winning four star culinary reviews.

                                               THE LIBRARY

Leaving the Four Corners, as you walk  toward the river, you will pass by the Library which has been meticulously restored.  It was designed by Henry Bacon, a famous architect who also designed the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.  Early in his career he represented Mckim, Mead and White, a prestigious New York architectural firm, at the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, which had a profound effect on late 19th and early 20th-century architecture.
 
If you have time peek inside, you will  see a cozy fireplace,  gleaming beaded pine walls and fir  floors framing oriental rugs,  all contributing to  a peaceful, elegant place for the Park's book worms.

  

                                           THE PAVILION 

As you reach the river , the icon of TI Park , the Pavilion, comes into view.   TI Parkers are  proud  of the Pavilion,  restored mainly due to the fund raising efforts of  community, the Landmark Society and the TI Park Corporation.  During the day,  it is the place to be for  young people to gather and enjoy the sun and fun on the expansive main dock.   It is the  mecca for  our river events, community gatherings, weddings, and cheering on the Yacht Club sailboat races.  TI Park is a river community with a strong emphasis on family activities centered on the river and lest we forget, a strong commitment to the preservation of a bygone era.                 
         
             

THOUSAND ISLAND PARK LANDMARK SOCIETY 
Office, Gift Shop, Reference Library, Exhibits
42831 St Lawrence Ave
Thousand Island Park, NY 13692
315 482 5150  

Since the 1970's the  Thousand Island Park Landmark Society and the Preservation Board have been the catalyst for change. Knowledge and appreciation are powerful tools. The community has embraced the preservation movement.  The Thousand Island Park Landmark Society is dedicated to perpetuating and fostering and interest and  appreciation  for preservation and  for the early architectural  history of our community.  

Stop in and feel free to browse in our little  Landmark Shop.   It is an iconic example of a Tent Style/Carpenter Gothic camp architecture.   It is only shop that survived the Fire of 1912 in the business district. The porch and gingerbread had been torn off  years ago.  Landmark funds enabled restoration of this building.  The porch has been replaced and   templates were crafted to restore  the original intricate  gingerbread.

Landmark's reference library serves as  a resource for historical research, architectural information and preservation projects. 
  

ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION  
THOUSAND ISLAND PARK

                                  HOUSE TOUR INFORMATION 2013


Every two years the Thousand Island Park Landmark Society hosts an Historic House and Garden Tour.  The 15th Historic House and Garden Tour will take place on Thursday on July 18. 2013. The public is invited to participate and enjoy this day on the Park. All proceeds go to the Thousand Island Park Landmark Society to enable the continuation of its mission to enhance  preservation of our Park. 

Take a leisurely walk and tour the elegant historic homes, proceed at your own pace. Attend the lecture in the historic,  open air Tabernacle, presented at 9:00 am and again after lunch at 1:00 pm.   Tour the historic cottages, sit, relax, and enjoy the panoramic view of islands and the gentle summer breezes off the mighty St. Lawrence River.  To please your palate, The Wellesley Hotel is offering a delicious buffet luncheon. 

Peruse the riverside Art Show and Sale and Bazaar.  If you are so inclined, take advantage of our complimentary golf cart transportation. Most importantly, appreciate the preservation efforts of the Thousand Island Park Landmark Society.   

• Tickets are $30  for am and pm tour; and after 7/12 will be $35,
•  Buffet Luncheon at the Wellesley Hotel $12; 1st seating @ 11:30-12:30 and 2nd seating @ 12:30-1:30   (prepay)                   
• NO reservations. Prepay or pay at door.
•  Morning tour starts at 9 am to 12 noon
•  Afternoon tour starts at 1 pm to 4 pm.
• Both tours will start off with a lecture presentation in the open air Tabernacle.  
• Tickets are for sale at Landmark Shop and Park Antique Shop or through Pay Pal  on line (see below)                      
•  C$$h or check or PayPal.
  Indicate  your choice of the morning tour or the afternoon tour.
• Lunch. Choose 1 st or 2nd seating. Suggestion Morning Tour people choose 2nd seating and afternoon people choose 1 st seating to add more time to your day. It is a full schedule.
  
  
  Mail Check to Thousand Island Park Landmark Society
  Box 712
  Thousand Island Park, NY 13692  

or Pay with Pay Pal  

For information call  315 482 5150 
email info@thousandislandparklandmarksociety.org