Thousand Island Park: A Brief History
What follows is a brief history of Thousand Island Park, located on Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River. A more detailed history may be found in Thousand Island Park 1975-2025 and Thousand Island Park: One Hundred Years and Then Some. Both books are available in the TI Park library and the Landmark Society Resource Center. You can also visit the The Historical Association Museum and peruse their vast collection.
Now step back in time and learn the origin story of Thousand Island Park! Born from the 19th-century revival meeting movement, This setting on Wellesley Island began as a humble Methodist campground and evolved into a vibrant summer community blending faith, recreation, and stunning natural beauty. From its platform tent-covered beginnings to charming permanent wooden cottages, TI Park grew into a summer destination..
Now step back in time and learn the origin story of Thousand Island Park! Born from the 19th-century revival meeting movement, This setting on Wellesley Island began as a humble Methodist campground and evolved into a vibrant summer community blending faith, recreation, and stunning natural beauty. From its platform tent-covered beginnings to charming permanent wooden cottages, TI Park grew into a summer destination..
Rev. John Dayan, a former Methodist circuit rider, first proposed the campground to The Conference of the Methodist Churches in 1874. Plans for the Thousand Island Park Meeting Association were developed by The Conference. The park was deigned to be managed by nine trustees, serving without pay and charged to promote cross-border activities and to create a religious retreat. One hundred and fifty years ago, in 1875, Thousand Island Park was dedicated and all the available lots were sold. Tent platforms were erected on the lots and soon wooden cottages followed. Thousand Island Park steadily grew. By 1877, 400–500 lots were occupied and infrastructure was being developed. Between 1885 and 1887, the Camp Meeting Association installed water, sewage, and drainage systems, organized a local board of health and garbage collection. The Park boasted a hotel, a tabernacle, the Main Dock, a pavilion, a telegraph system, a post office, gas lights along the main streets, a general store, a chapel, and a museum.
Development continued at a rapid pace. The Thousand Island Park Hotel was completed 1883, less than 10 years after the founding of the Park. It had 400 rooms in four stories and was described as a massive structure of architectural beauty and solid strength.This steady development came to an abrupt halt on August 21, 1890, when a fire burned The Thousand Island Park Hotel to the ground in 45 minutes. Lack of hoses and water supply hampered efforts. Bucket brigades from the river limited damage to 13 buildings in close proximity to the hotel. In 1892 a new hotel, named the Columbian replaced the TIP Hotel and in the same year electricity came to the park. With over 500 cottages by 1894, there could be as many as 7,000 people in the Park on a summer day.
Throughout the 1890’s, The Park sought to develop programs combining religion, art, education, and entertainment. The programs expanded to include interesting and timely speakers as well as cultural events, and TI Park became known as the “Chautauqua of the North”, reflecting a wider adult educational and social movement that was growing in popularity during the early 20th century. In 1903 the library, donated by the Holden family, was built to further enhance the Park’s learning and cultural experiences.
Throughout the 1890’s, The Park sought to develop programs combining religion, art, education, and entertainment. The programs expanded to include interesting and timely speakers as well as cultural events, and TI Park became known as the “Chautauqua of the North”, reflecting a wider adult educational and social movement that was growing in popularity during the early 20th century. In 1903 the library, donated by the Holden family, was built to further enhance the Park’s learning and cultural experiences.
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In 1895 Swami Vivekananda, a renowned Indian monk and philosopher, rested in TI Park for seven weeks, after a two-year tour of the US that had followed his address to the World Parliament of Religions. He stayed in a cottage situated above the Tabernacle along the nature trail. In 1947 Swami Vivekananda’s folIowers purchased and restored the cottage. Today it continues to serve as a Hindu sacred place.
That same year, the TI Park Association opened the Wellesley Hotel at the corner of Rainbow and St. Lawrence Avenues to alleviate the pressure for increased summer accommodation.
Again fire hit hard. On July 9, 1912, a fire started in the Columbian Hotel. Unlike the first hotel fire, when wider fire damage was limited, a combination of hot dry weather, insufficient water and equipment, and wooden sidewalks which acted as fuses, resulted in the destruction of the hotel, seven business buildings, three schools, the chapel and 98 cottages. Five hundred people were left homeless.
Recovery began with construction of a cement-block “fireproof” building at St. Lawrence and Rainbow to replace some of the commercial buildings that burned down. This building, which housed the grocery store and the iconic “Guzzle,” stood at the four corners. The current chapel and the attached school building (which now houses the TI Park Corporation offices), were also completed in 1913.
That same year, the TI Park Association opened the Wellesley Hotel at the corner of Rainbow and St. Lawrence Avenues to alleviate the pressure for increased summer accommodation.
Again fire hit hard. On July 9, 1912, a fire started in the Columbian Hotel. Unlike the first hotel fire, when wider fire damage was limited, a combination of hot dry weather, insufficient water and equipment, and wooden sidewalks which acted as fuses, resulted in the destruction of the hotel, seven business buildings, three schools, the chapel and 98 cottages. Five hundred people were left homeless.
Recovery began with construction of a cement-block “fireproof” building at St. Lawrence and Rainbow to replace some of the commercial buildings that burned down. This building, which housed the grocery store and the iconic “Guzzle,” stood at the four corners. The current chapel and the attached school building (which now houses the TI Park Corporation offices), were also completed in 1913.
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Although TI Park survived the fire, the depression of 1913 and the start of World War I signaled the end of the way of life that kept the Thousand Islands alive as a vacationer’s paradise. The Columbian was never replaced and by the time the war ended the Association began to have difficulties raising capital. 1933 marked the end of Thousand Island Park Association. The bonds that had been sold to finance the park were long overdue and the Association sold them to the recently-organized Wellesley Island Park Inc., whose Board of Directors included the TI Park businessmen and cottage owners who were still owed money from bond sales. They were compensated with stock in the new corporation.
In 1938 President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister McKenzie King opened the Thousand Island Bridge, bringing easier access and cars to Wellesley Island.
TI Park emerged from the wartime era diminished and deeply in debt. Most of the Park’s hotels, including the Wellesley, closed. “Improvements” had become lists of teardowns rather than new cottages and public services. By 1950, there were only 12 businesses and close to 600 cottages were reduced to 320 cottages.
The Wellesley Island Park Inc. became the Thousand Island Park Corporation in 1953. Both Protestant and Catholic, worshiped at the Tabernacle each Sunday, while other activities were almost entirely non-religious. It was still a summer paradise for children who could take part in Tabernacle Committee-sponsored activities like baseball on the green, tennis lessons on the old clay courts, swimming lessons at the cove, story hour at the library, and less organized fishing, swimming, hanging about the playground, and general roaming around on foot or on bikes. Movies were shown at the Tabernacle twice a week.
1972: The Park stopped dumping raw sewage into the St. Lawrence following the construction of a treatment plant, improving both drinking water and swimming experiences.
In 1975 Thousand Island Park turned 100. The centenary events and the publication of Thousand Island Park: One Hundred Years and Then Some generated new interest in preserving the history and buildings of TIP. This new awareness resulted in the formation of The Thousand Island Park Landmark Society.
The Landmark Society was incorporated in 1976 as a community-based, not-for-profit organization founded to protect the architectural integrity and history of TI Park. The Landmark Society did an architectural survey of the park enabling it to be listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 1983 they organized the first of the bi-annual cottage and garden tours, generating an even greater interest in preservation.
Preservation gained TI Park Corporation support in 1987 with the development and adoption of a Preservation Code and establishment of a Preservation Board to guide cottage owners, and businesses in making historically accurate exterior changes to buildings.
Between 1995 and 1998 the TIP community raised funds to restore the Main Dock to its original design. In 2005 the TIP Corporation and the Landmark Society collaborated to restore the McIntyre Photo Shop. The photo shop was built in 1879 and is still on its original site on St. Lawrence Avenue and now houses the Landmark Society office, reference library, and shop.
In 2014 another catastrophic fire struck in the central commercial district, The Post Office, many businesses, and the beloved Guzzle were destroyed. The community again stepped forward to help finance a new structure. The Landmark Society and the TIP Corporation collaborated again to fund the restoration of the four corners, also destroyed by the fire and the construction.
Historic preservation is now fundamental to TI Park. The listing on the National Places carries with it an obligation to preserve our irreplaceable architectural history. The Preservation Code has guided exterior changes to buildings, including cottages, and full-on restoration projects such as the Main Dock.
“A Brief History of Thousand Island Park” tells us how this summer community on the St. Lawrence has been able to evolve and flourish. Many families returned to Thousand Island Park year after year, creating a strong sense of community and tradition. Though fires, two world wars, economic depression, and time reshaped the park, its spirit remains steadfast. After one hundred and fifty years TI Park stands as a testament to resilience, history, and generations of families who cherish its beauty and community.
In 1938 President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister McKenzie King opened the Thousand Island Bridge, bringing easier access and cars to Wellesley Island.
TI Park emerged from the wartime era diminished and deeply in debt. Most of the Park’s hotels, including the Wellesley, closed. “Improvements” had become lists of teardowns rather than new cottages and public services. By 1950, there were only 12 businesses and close to 600 cottages were reduced to 320 cottages.
The Wellesley Island Park Inc. became the Thousand Island Park Corporation in 1953. Both Protestant and Catholic, worshiped at the Tabernacle each Sunday, while other activities were almost entirely non-religious. It was still a summer paradise for children who could take part in Tabernacle Committee-sponsored activities like baseball on the green, tennis lessons on the old clay courts, swimming lessons at the cove, story hour at the library, and less organized fishing, swimming, hanging about the playground, and general roaming around on foot or on bikes. Movies were shown at the Tabernacle twice a week.
1972: The Park stopped dumping raw sewage into the St. Lawrence following the construction of a treatment plant, improving both drinking water and swimming experiences.
In 1975 Thousand Island Park turned 100. The centenary events and the publication of Thousand Island Park: One Hundred Years and Then Some generated new interest in preserving the history and buildings of TIP. This new awareness resulted in the formation of The Thousand Island Park Landmark Society.
The Landmark Society was incorporated in 1976 as a community-based, not-for-profit organization founded to protect the architectural integrity and history of TI Park. The Landmark Society did an architectural survey of the park enabling it to be listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 1983 they organized the first of the bi-annual cottage and garden tours, generating an even greater interest in preservation.
Preservation gained TI Park Corporation support in 1987 with the development and adoption of a Preservation Code and establishment of a Preservation Board to guide cottage owners, and businesses in making historically accurate exterior changes to buildings.
Between 1995 and 1998 the TIP community raised funds to restore the Main Dock to its original design. In 2005 the TIP Corporation and the Landmark Society collaborated to restore the McIntyre Photo Shop. The photo shop was built in 1879 and is still on its original site on St. Lawrence Avenue and now houses the Landmark Society office, reference library, and shop.
In 2014 another catastrophic fire struck in the central commercial district, The Post Office, many businesses, and the beloved Guzzle were destroyed. The community again stepped forward to help finance a new structure. The Landmark Society and the TIP Corporation collaborated again to fund the restoration of the four corners, also destroyed by the fire and the construction.
Historic preservation is now fundamental to TI Park. The listing on the National Places carries with it an obligation to preserve our irreplaceable architectural history. The Preservation Code has guided exterior changes to buildings, including cottages, and full-on restoration projects such as the Main Dock.
“A Brief History of Thousand Island Park” tells us how this summer community on the St. Lawrence has been able to evolve and flourish. Many families returned to Thousand Island Park year after year, creating a strong sense of community and tradition. Though fires, two world wars, economic depression, and time reshaped the park, its spirit remains steadfast. After one hundred and fifty years TI Park stands as a testament to resilience, history, and generations of families who cherish its beauty and community.
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