"Chicago to the Sea." Eastern Excursionist / A complete guide to the principal eastern summer resorts, including: Niagara Falls, the White Mountains, Saint Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Montreal and Quebec, the New England sea beaches, etc., and how and when to enjoy them.

by William C. Gage

THE THOUSAND ISLAND HOUSE,

A [view] of which we herewith present, is one of the finest hotels, both in point of its general arrangements and the natural advantages afforded by its location, to be found at any pleasure resort on the river. It is built on the solid rock, near the steamboat landing, and its windows command an extensive prospect, both up and down the river and across the Bay to Westminster Park. The view is still further expanded by ascending the lofty tower which adorns the center of the structure, rising 160 feet above the foundation, and surmounted with a balcony, affording an outlook of surpassing loveliness and grandeur. The hotel is the largest on the river, and will accommodate 700 guests.

THOUSAND ISLAND HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA BAY.

Leaving Alexandria Bay, we are now in the midst of the most fashionable part of the Thousand Island group. The residences are elegant in style of architecture and general appointments, some of them being very costly, their wealthy proprietors having lavished expenditure upon them with unstinted hand. The captain will call many of them by name, the islands having received their titles mostly from their present owners and occupants, and are somewhat fanciful and often appropriate. For instance “Fairy Land” seems a fitting abode for elfin sprites, although equally attractive to humanity. Arcadia, Sport Island, Summerland, Manhattan, Imperial, Welcome, Cozy, Nobby, and a host of other cognomens, have been bestowed upon the charming spots where taste, elegance, and refinement are exhibited, as art has united with nature in making them veritable summer paradises, where, let us hope, no serpent’s trail may mar the happiness of their possessors.

The last of the Thousand Islands are called the Three Sisters, from their resemblance and proximity to each other. They are nearly opposite Brockville on the Canada shore and Morristown on the New York side, the two towns being directly opposite each other, the former the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the latter of the Utica & Black River Railroad, needing only a bridge, with these islands as resting places for the abutments, to unite the two roads in one continuous line. Brockville, named in honor of General Brock, is called the “Queen City of the St. Lawrence,” and there is something regal in its appearance to warrant the bestowment of the title. Its glittering towers and church spires give an appearance of splendor, which the tourist will observe as a peculiarity of the Canadian cities to be seen in his trip, the metal with which they are covered retaining its brightness in a remarkable degree, owing to the purity and dryness of the atmosphere.