St. Lawrence River — American Castles

Been a while since I have had the opportunity to post – doing lots of sightseeing and taking photos; not a lot of time to go through it all.

From the New England areas of New Hampshire and Vermont, we traveled to and down the St. Lawrence River to Alexandria Bay. The area is known as the 1000 Islands, and there are thousands of islands; some just little outcroppings in the river, others rather large, some inhabited with a single little house seemingly built just the size of the island, and others with the flair of European castles, creating American Castles.

We hopped on a river cruise boat for a tour and traveled up to Singer Castle. “A part of American history and local folklore meet at Singer Castle on Dark Island, located on the St. Lawrence River. Singer Castle is the only remaining/existing castle on our river to be completed, fully furnished and resided in during the heyday of the great builders and industrials in New York. Calumet and Castle Rest (Pullman) were both completed and lived in. (And both were prior to Towers.) The Castle remained in the possession of the original owners, the Bourne family, from its construction in 1905 until the mid-1960’s. Frederick Bourne was the fifth President of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, which is where the name “Singer Castle” came from. When the Bourne family summered there, it was called “The Towers” which comes from the inspiration that Ernest Flagg, the architect whom designed this structure, had after reading the book Woodstock by Sir Walter Scott.” (www.singercastle.com/brief-history)

It was a very interesting structure, not as impressive as others I have seen, still worthy of the visit. A nice collection of old Singer sewing machines were on site; one very similar to one I currently own.

Another castle we did not tour was Boldt Castle. It was much larger, and more time was needed to be able to fully enjoy a tour. Perhaps one day I’ll get back up there to tour it. Boldt Castle has an interesting history – “At the turn-of-the-century, George C. Boldt, millionaire proprietor of the world-famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, set out to build a full-size Rhineland castle in Alexandria Bay, on picturesque Heart Island.  The grandiose structure was to be a display of his love for his wife, Louise. Due to the tragic death of his wife, all construction stopped and Boldt never returned to the island. In 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property and began preservation and restoration so that future generations could enjoy the castle.” (www.boldtcastle.com)

The river was very placid the day of our cruise and it was a gorgeous day. I’ve included a sampling of sights along the way in the gallery below.

Oh, and let’s not forget Lighthouses!