Main Duck Island, Canada - Map, History, Lighthouse

Main Duck Island is situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, close to the Canadian border. It remains uninhabited, serving as an essential thing of the Thousand Islands National Park and a sizeable herbal reserve.

Aside from a derelict pier, Main Duck Island lacks services for passing mariners.

Main Duck Island: Map & Basics

NameMain Duck Island
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
Coordinates43°55′34″N 76°37′10″W
Area2.306 km2 (570 acres)
Time zoneUTC-5
Population0
AirportN/A

Main Duck Island: History

For millennia, indigenous peoples used Main Duck Island as a summer campsite. In the early 1800s, European settlers from the Canadian mainland hooked up a small community, retaining a fishing settlement until the eve of World War II.

Throughout the Prohibition era in the United States, Main Duck Island emerged as a preferred hub for rumrunners, clandestinely ferrying illicit items across American waters beneath the duvet of nighttime to quench the thirst of a parched public.

In the 1950s, the island changed arms, which were obtained during the tenure of U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles under President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration.

Following its purchase by the Canadian Nature Conservancy in 1976, the land was transferred to the Canadian federal authorities. Main Duck Island became formally incorporated into the Thousand Islands National Park in 1998.

How to Get to Main Duck Island

Due to everyday southwest winds, Main Duck Island has a considerable wide variety of shipwrecks, making it essential to exercise severe caution when touring there.

Upon touchdown on Main Duck Island, a trail results in the lighthouse. Though the simplest footpath exists, the flat terrain allows for easy traversal via fields and forests.

Main Duck Island bears the remnants of abandoned structures from summer season residents who lived right here a long time in the past, making it one of the rare places on Lake Ontario a ways removed from crowded civilization.

Main Duck Island Lighthouse

In the early nineteenth century, America and Canada installed lighthouses on Galloo Island and False Duck Island, respectively, to resource navigation in Lake Ontario's jap cease. Main Duck Island acquired its lighthouse in 1914. Over time, proposals arose to enhance navigational aids, leading to the development of additional systems on Main Duck Island, completed in 1914.

Main Duck Island and neighboring York County Island served as fishing outposts inside the overdue 1800s, with Claude W. Cole shopping them in 1905. John Foster Dulles acquired Main Duck Island in 1941, playing rustic island lifestyles together with his wife. The island noticed improvements in navigational generation, consisting of a radio beacon in 1929 and a synchronized fog alarm in 1950.

After Dulles' passing, Robert F. Hart purchased the island in 1964, and it sooner or later became a part of Thousand Islands National Park in 1998. Ken McConnell, the closing lighthouse keeper, experienced a challenging scenario near the island in December ultimate yr, underscoring the treacherous conditions of the vicinity.

Main Duck Island Snakes

Main Duck Island, also known as "Snake Island," is home to a significant population of Northern Water Snakes and Eastern Ribbon Snakes in Lake Ontario.

In 1979, a survey documented over 100 Northern Water Snakes and more than 50 Eastern Ribbon Snakes on Main Duck Island within two days.

Video: Exploring Main Duck Island by foot and by drone

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