Ontario Islands: Wolfe Island

Wolfe island It is the largest of the so-called Thousand Islands. Situated on Lake Ontario and ending the St. Lawrence River it begins its flow to the Atlantic and it attracts for its beautiful sunrises, breathtaking sunsets and spectacular night skies that are a large part of its charm.

Wolfe Island, located just off the city of Kingston, forms a natural border between Canada and the United States coasts, at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River. The island is about thirty kilometers in length and is one to seven miles wide, a fertile island of more than 30.000 hectares in the area.

It is the largest of the famous "Thousand Islands". It divides the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario and has the channel of the Canal in the south. This is how it could be called the gateway to the sea.

The first Indian name of the island was'ganounkouesnot'Which means' long island standing' and so we see that the Indians chose a name according to the size of the island of Wolfe, later it was called Long Island. During the French regime it was called Grand Island, and then in 1792 by a proclamation issued by Govenor Simcoe, while under British rule it was named Wolfe in honor of General James Wolfe.

Samuel de Champlain in 1615, is presumed to have been the first white man to visit the island of Wolfe, while returning from an expedition against the Iroquois. The route he pursues carried the war party from the vicinity of the port of Sacketts on the US coast to Wolfe Island, thence across the channel to the mainland at Cataraqui.

To get to the island there is a ferry that connects to Kingston. It is a seasonal toll ferry also connecting Cape Vincent Island.

Like most rural areas, Wolfe Island's population peaked in the mid-XNUMXth century, and has subsequently declined, despite travelers and residents traveling in recent years. Marysville, an island town on the north shore, is the embarkation point for the Kingston ferry.


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