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Whiskey Island is
located at the southwestern end of the Thousand
Islands along the US/Canadian boarder at the head of
Grindstone Island, on the Saint Lawrence River. The
families of Morgan Leavitt and Carter inhabited this
section of the river each summer for over a hundred
years, and still have family and cottages in the
area today.
Chris Wolf built
the first of several cottages in that section of
river. Whiskey Island, being the first to have a
cottage. The original section of the house was built
of 2' x 4' planks stacked upon one another-which
still serves for a structurally sound lodge.
Throughout the river's history, most of the original
cottages in the area have burned down and were
rebuilt. But, due to Whiskey’s resilience, her
structure remains one of the oldest cottages in the
area!
Whiskey was
originally owned by a Leavitt in 1875, who was
married to Chris Wolf (whom built the cottage on
Whiskey). However, legend has it that he ran off
with a governess and it was sold in 1914 to Alice
Carter's Mother. “Grandma Morgan.” Alice’s son,
Bunny Morgan ,and his family lived at Whiskey each
summer until 1961, when Bunny passed away. It was
left to his daughter, Mimi Boyer. Mimi, with her
husband and family, inhabited Whiskey each and every
summer until her passing in 1994, when it was left
to her daughter Jenny. Jenny then sold it to
the Randazzo Family, to whom it belongs today.
In 1870,
Whiskey Island was originally named Coral Island due
to the maze of shoals that surround her. Due to the
mass of shoals and its strategic location on
Us/Canadian boarder, Whiskey was the main "drop and
run" point for rumrunners during Prohibition.
Because these shoals and rocks surrounded the Island
it was easy for the rumrunners to hide, and later
recover, the smuggled liquor. Since this section of
river, where Whiskey lay, was a tricky spot to
navigate through, it was hard for the law to chase
the rumrunners. It also helped that the
rumrunners were the best navigators on the river and
they could get a boat through this cut fast to
escape the law. As a code to other rumrunners
“Whiskey Island” was adapted to inform one other
where the goods could be recovered and stored if the
law was getting in the way.
Although we are
unsure of the exact time in which her name was
officially changed on charts to identify her as
Whiskey Island, we know it happened some years after
Prohibition. Since people have a great fascination
with the Prohibition era, one can still often find
divers exploring the shoals surrounding Whiskey to
trying to dig up her past and what she protected.
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