Valentine's Day - Boldt Castle on Heart Island

Photo from Visit1000Islands.com (note the heart shape of the island).

While the Boldt Castle love story ended in heart break, we are now left with beautiful legacy to enjoy...a story of deep, dedicated love and an extraordinary scenic site in the Thousand Islands.

Follow this link to a short love story: Boldt Castle: A Love Story.

Weddings are popular at both of the Thousand Islands castles: Singer Castle on Dark Island, as well as at Boldt Castle on Heart Island.

A Quick Taste: History of Singer Castle.

 Commodore Frederick G. Bourne and his wife Emma are the couple in the center of the gathering. Click on the photo to see it larger.

Singer Castle – A Family Place

The five-story red roofed castle on Dark Island was built in the early 1900s as a "small hunting lodge" for Frederick Bourne who was the President of the Singer Sewing Machine Company from 1889-1905. Bourne and his family loved spending time at "The Towers" in the 1000 Islands and enjoyed the many activities that were available to residents and visitors alike. Boating, sailing, racing, tennis and golf were popular with the family in the summer and in the fall Bourne and his friends came for the duck hunting. After Bourne’s death in 1919 his youngest daughter Marjorie and her sister, May Bourne Strassburger purchased the castle from the estate. Marjorie Bourne and her husband Alexander Thayer continued to use and enjoy the castle with friends and family until the early 1960s.

From the mid-1960s to 2001 the castle, then called Jorstadt Castle was owned by the Dr. Harold Martin Evangelical Association and used for religious retreats and services. During those years families came to the castle for Sunday worship during the summer months.

In 2002 Dark Island was purchased by a group of island and castle enthusiasts who opened the castle for guided tours, overnight stays and weddings and special events. Now called Singer Castle after the source of much of Frederick Bourne’s fortune, it is once again a family place. Visitors of all ages enjoy coming to tour the fully furnished building and hearing about time gone by in the 1000 Islands. Overnight guests can pretend that they are the Kings and Queens or Princes and Princesses of the castle and Brides and Grooms can have their own Royal Wedding.

After visiting friends and "family," you can now keep track of the castle by visiting us on facebook, or by checking out the following websites:
singercastle.blogspot.com, www.singercastle.com, and www.thousandislandslife.com.

The castle is also featured in several recently published books and magazines including Bob and Patty Mondore’s Singer Castle Revisited, Patty Mondore’s River-Lations: Inspirational Stories and Photos of the 1000 Islands, Ian Corstine’s The very best of Ian Corstine’s 1000 Islands, Kathleen Quigley’s The Summer Cottage: Retreats of the 1000 Islands, Scott Ian Barry’s The Castles of New York, Mike Harwood’s The St. Lawrence River Rats and The Mystery of Singer Castle, Island Life Magazine published by Kim Lunman. Wealth TV has produced a feature on Singer Castle as part of a series entitled "Palatial Passport" and PBS continues to air its feature on Singer Castle.

Call 1-877-327-5475 for more information on Singer Castle.

The above dispatch and photo were received this day directly from Dark Island's president, Tom Weldon.

 

1000 Islands video tour from Rockport Boat Lines.

Kick back and take this easy tour of the Thousand Islands with a focus on Boldt Castle and a sampling of "Millionaires' Row" (stately summer homes, each on its own island). An interesting 10 minutes and 22 seconds, enjoy the free tour on this part of the St. Lawrence River! Courtesy of the Rockport Boat Line, Ontario.

Cool News from Boldt Castle!

Boldt Castle across the River from this blogger.

The Watertown Daily Times reported today that Boldt Castle is working on having an online ticket sales system with Gateway Ticketing Systems Inc. that will go live before the next operating season. You will be able to buy tickets to Boldt Castle at anytime from your computer. The new system will cost the owners (the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority) $171,000. 

Boldt Castle, located on Heart Island (St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands, Alexandria Bay NY), is also making major dock repairs (at a cost of $16,600), as well as building a new movie room, all to be completed before the next tourist season. This is all great news for such a popular destination spot.

Valentine's Day / Boldt Castle Love Story on Heart Island

Clover Boldt Baird, granddaughter of George C. Boldt wrote "The Love Story of Boldt Castle" in 1978. She wrote some interesting things apropos to Valentine's day. Boldt's wife, Louise, loved the Thousand Islands and her birthday happened to be on Valentine's day (Feb. 14th). As Clover tells it, George would make a castle for Louise that would be a double gift, a birthday present as well as a Valentine's gift.

"...George noticed that his island had a somewhat heart-like shape. Valentines Day, a 'gift of love,' Hart Island... 'I'll make it a REAL heart,' he promised himself. Soon after, he imported hundreds of workmen to change the outline of the island into the desired shape ... reworked until the land became a giant valentine, which George promptly named 'Heart Island.'"

But sadly ending like a Greek tragedy, Louise died unexpectedly at only 42, and George, inconsolable, immediately stopped all work on the castle and he never returned to it. Not to end on this note, Boldt Castle on Heart Island became one of the most visited tourist destinations, as well as a very popular host of weddings.

(Most of these factoids and excerpts are from Clover's booklet. The classic aerial-view post card which I have is dated from 1962. Click on the headline to read on Wikipedia about the surprisingly actual St. Valentines who were martyred for their beliefs).