Frenchman Island

Frenchman Island derives its name from a legend describing the island's first colonial inhabitants. The story varies between accounts, but generally tells of a French man and a wealthy French woman who eloped to the Americas in defiance of the woman's father. They built a home upon the island in the late 1700s where they remained for seven years, having three children during that time. Visitors were surprised to find a well-apportioned home upon the island, which was at that time deep in a largely unsettled wilderness. Eventually, the father reconciled with his daughter, and the family was allowed to return to France.{{cite journal |last=MacGregor |first=T. Douglas |title=Supplementing Nature |journal=The Four-Track News |date=September 1905 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=206–207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NqtAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA206 |access-date=February 25, 2015}}{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Carroll Earll |last2=Smith |first2=Charles Carroll |title=Pioneer Times in the Onondaga Country |date=1904 |publisher=C.W. Bardeen |location=Syracuse, NY |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pioneertimesino00smitgoog/page/n152 140]–141 |url=https://archive.org/details/pioneertimesino00smitgoog |access-date=February 25, 2015}}

Alexis de Tocqueville visited the island in 1831, retracing the story of the Frenchman in Joachim Heinrich Campe's Voyage au lac Onéida (1803), but found only scanty remains of the house.{{cite book|last1=de Tocqueville|first1=Alexis|title=Democracy in America and Two Essays on America|date=2003|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London, England|pages=933–934}}

File:Frenchman Island Lighthouse 1917.jpg

The island hosts one of the three lighthouses used to guide navigation on Oneida Lake. The lighthouses were built in 1917 as part of the New York State Barge Canal, which uses Oneida Lake as part of its water route from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The Frenchman Island Lighthouse is still in operation today and is managed by the New York State Canal Corporation. While the lighthouse was completed in August 1917, it may not have been first lit until 1918. Today, the tower's 1,500 candlepower occulting white light is powered by commercial electricity, although it was gas-powered for several years after its initial completion.{{cite web |url=http://www.lighthousedigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=975 |title=New York State Canals and Lighthouses |work=Lighthouse Digest |date=February 2001 |first=David E. |last=Cook |access-date=February 27, 2015}}

The tower was originally constructed to be {{convert|85|ft}} tall, and an additional {{convert|20|ft}} was added to the tower in 1949. It was constructed atop an {{convert|18|ft|adj=on}} rise on the island, making the current total focal height of the lighthouse {{convert|123|ft}} above lake level. Light from the tower is visible from up to {{convert|20|mi}} away.{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Frank M. |title=Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1917 |date=1918 |publisher=James B. Lyon |location=Albany, NY |pages=221–223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3pCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA221 |access-date=February 25, 2015}}

Image:Oneida-lake 1910 dunhams.jpg

The island has historically been a popular location for sightseeing and picnicking. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the island featured a small resort with a two-story inn and a bowling alley. Trains from Syracuse would deliver passengers to steamboats that made regular trips the island, where visitors would find "boating, sailing, fishing, bathing, tennis, croquet, base-ball and good music."{{cite book |author=Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad Company |title=Routes and Rates for Summer Tours |date=1887 |publisher=Giles Litho. & Liberty Printing Company |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUItAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA20 |access-date=February 26, 2015}}

In the latter part of the 20th century, the island was managed by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation as Frenchman Island State Park, though it was largely undeveloped with little remaining to show from its days as a resort. Due to persistent vandalism, the park was closed for many years before re-opening in 2008. Jurisdiction of the island was transferred to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 2011{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/76101.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225100115/http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/76101.html |archive-date=February 25, 2015 |title=Land and Conservation Easement Acquisitions: Second Quarter 2011 |publisher=NYS Department of Environmental Conservation |access-date=February 25, 2015}} with plans for them to manage the island as a Wildlife Management Area. The island became part of the Three Mile Bay Wildlife Management Area.{{cite web |title=Three Mile Bay Wildlife Management Area Map |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/70681.html |access-date=2016-07-11 |publisher=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation}}

• List of islands of New York

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Category:Lake islands of New York (state)

Category:Uninhabited islands of New York (state)

Category:Protected areas of Oswego County, New York

Category:Landforms of Oswego County, New York

Category:Tourist attractions in Oswego County, New York

Category:Central New York