The First Summer People: The Thousand Islands 1650-1910

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public relations
consultant.

Susan Weston Smith’s years of meticulous research on the Thousand
Islands area have resulted in an impressive and informative work filled
with heretofore unpublished surveys, maps, and photographs. The author
traveled as far as Britain to locate original charts (first printed in
1828) at the British Hydrographic Department archives; she scoured local
libraries on both the Canadian and the American sides of the St.
Lawrence.

The history of the Thousand Islands dates back three centuries. Smith
details that history, up to the time that the islands began to be
purchased privately. Each of the islands is identified by name or
number, historic name, market evaluation at the time of initial
purchase, and first purchaser; prices originally ranged from $5 for a
property of 1/80 acre to $800 for 110 acres. Situated between the United
States and Canada, the islands shared a turbulent past before they
became a cottage area for “the First Summer People.”

This engrossing and carefully executed volume will delight tourists and
cottagers and at the same time serve as an excellent source of study and
reference for teachers and students of Canadian and American history.