Carleton Island

Infobox Islands
name = Carleton Island


image caption =
locator

native name =
native name link =
location = St. Lawrence River
coordinates= coord|44|10|43|N|76|17|17|W
archipelago =
total islands =
major islands =
area = 5.2 km²
highest mount = unnamed
elevation = 109 m [ [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:15951486668535741242::NO::P3_FID:945837 USGS] ]
country = New York
country admin divisions title = County
country admin divisions = Jefferson County
country largest city =
country largest city population =
population = 31 homes
population as of =
density =
ethnic groups =

Carleton Island is located in the St Lawrence River in upstate New York. It was the location of Fort Haldimand, controlled by the British during the American Revolution, and of great strategic importance, as well as being a center of shipbuilding. The ruins of the fort can still be seen at the southwest end of the island. Projecting from the location of the fort is Government Point, notched by two small bays. Houses on the island are serviced by ferry from the mainland, the nearest town being Cape Vincent, New York.

History

Originally held by the Iroquois, the first European to take notice of the island was Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, in 1720. He called it Isle aux Chevreuils, the Island of Roe Bucks, and wrote in 1721 that its bays could be useful. [ [http://history.rays-place.com/ny/cape-vincent-ny.htm History of Cape Vincent] ] In 1778 British General Frederick Haldimand ordered a fort built on the island to protect Kingston, Ontario and as a forward base. [Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness, Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, 1877, pp 256-260] The island was renamed Carleton Island after Sir Guy Carleton, who had preceded Haldimand as Governor of the Province of Quebec, and the fort was named after Haldimand. [ [http://www.threerivershms.com/hhahaldimand.htm Three Rivers history] ] Many ships for the war were built at the island, including the recently discovered HMS "Ontario". [Ernest Cruikshank, A Souvenir of the St. Lawrence River] At the close of the war, under the terms of Jay's Treaty, the British were supposed to cede Carleton Island along with other forts to the Americans, but in the case of Carleton, never did.

During the War of 1812, Carleton Island was captured without bloodshed by three freelancing Americans. In 1817, the State Legislature of New York annexed the island to Jefferson County, and granted convert|500|acre|km2 of its land to the local New York postmaster, a Charles Smyth. The island had been a haven for smugglers, and later that year a Canadian tax collector seized some tobacco from the island. This dispute escalated, and Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York threatened hostilities. Soon Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was called upon to sort the matter out. [Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848, pp 394-399] After contentious negotiations, the island was retained by the United States, becoming the the only territorial gain made by either party to the War of 1812, and was turned over to peaceful pursuits of farming (now abandoned), sport-fishing, and summer tourism. [John A. Haddock and EliThayer. 1894. The Growth of a Century: As Illustrated in the History of Jefferson County, 112-113] A few people live on the island year-round.

References

External links

* [http://www.carletonislandvilla.com/ci.htm Carleton Island history and images]