Tar Island

Tar Island is about three kilometers long and a third of a kilometer wide, and separated from the northern shore of the river by sixty meters.{{cite journal|last=Bigsby|first=J. J.|title=Dr. Bigsby's Sketch of the Topographical and Geology of Lake Ontario (continued)|journal=The Philosophical Magazine|date=February 1829|volume=5|issue=26|page=85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RGwqAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=17 June 2013}} It measures {{convert|262|acre|ha|abbr=off}} in area and {{convert|8.0|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} in perimeter. Situated on a small unnamed island near the head of Tar Island is an automatic lighthouse directing traffic for the Canadian Middle Channel of the St. Lawrence.{{cite book|title=Sailing Directions: Gulf and River St. Lawrence|year=1977|publisher=Canadian Department of the Environment|pages=454–58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbjfAAAAMAAJ}}

A large deposit of black tourmaline is located just southeast of the island,{{cite journal|last=Coste|first=E|title=Statistical Report of the Production, Value, Exports, and Imports of Minerals in Canada|journal=Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada|year=1899|volume=3|issue=1|page=S 67}} intermixed with white quartz, cream colored feldspar, and green-yellow mica.{{cite journal|last=Silliman|first=Benjamin|title=A list of minerals and organic remains|journal=American Journal of Science and Arts|year=1824|volume=7|page=62}} The waters around Tar Island are home to American eel, now endangered.{{cite news|last1=Cheek|first1=Darcy|title=Study targets wintering American eel in St. Lawrence River area|url=http://www.thewhig.com/2015/03/29/study-targets-wintering-american-eel-in-st-lawrence-river-area|accessdate=20 April 2015|agency=Recorder Times|publisher=The Whig|date=29 March 2015}}

Tar Island was a site of Iroquois settlement, and contains arrowheads, bones, and a star painted in red ochre.{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Shawn|title=River Rats|url=https://archive.org/details/riverratspeopleo0000thom|url-access=registration|year=1989|publisher=General Store Publishing House|page=[https://archive.org/details/riverratspeopleo0000thom/page/31 31]|isbn=9780919431072 }}{{cite book|last=Patenaude|first=J. O.|title=Report of the Department of Mines and Resources Including Report of Soldier Settlement of Canada|year=1936|publisher=Canadian Department of Mines and Resources|page=43}} According to the 18th century French captain Pierre Pouchot, a narrows between the island and Canadian shore was previously called Petit Detroit by the Iroquois, and used for baptizing newcomers to the river.{{cite book|last=Hough|first=Franklin|title=The Thousand Islands of the River St. Lawrence|url=https://archive.org/details/thousandislandso00houg|year=1880|publisher=Davis, Bardeen & Co.|location=Syracuse, NY|page=[https://archive.org/details/thousandislandso00houg/page/104 104]}} During the War of 1812 Tar Island was the site of the 19 June 1814 ambush and capture of the British gunboat Black Snake, along with her captain Herman Landon, by American sailing master Francis Gregory.{{cite journal|journal=Ontario Historical Society|year=1924|volume=21-22|page=132}}

Inhabitants of Tar Island have included entomologist William Steel Creighton,{{cite journal|last=Buhs|first=Joshua|title=Building on Bedrock: William Steel Creighton and the Reformation of Ant Systematics|journal=Journal of the History of Biology|year=2000|volume=33|issue=1|pages=27–70| doi = 10.1023/a:1004712911037 |s2cid=81447671 }} industrialist Robert Hewitt,{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Susan|title=Thousand Islands Life in April 2011|url=http://www.thousandislandslife.com/BackIssues/Archive/tabid/393/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/671/TI-Life-in-April-lsquo11.aspx|publisher=ThousandIslandslife.com|accessdate=17 June 2013}} farmer Ralph Hodge (described in Thompson's Soul of the River,){{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Shawn|title=Soul of the River|year=1997|publisher=General Store Publishing House|location=Burnstown|pages=47–52}} and videogame designer Brian Reynolds.{{cite web|last=Au|first=Wagner James|title=Can Social Games Make More Money?|url=http://gigaom.com/2009/07/19/can-veteran-designer-brian-reynolds-make-social-games-more-money/|publisher=GigaOm.com|accessdate=13 July 2013|date=2009-07-19}} Farming (including products such as corn){{cite book|last=Keats|first=John|title=Of time and an island|year=1987|publisher=Syracuse University Press|location=Syracuse, NY|page=184|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqA1uaMLTlkC|isbn=9780815602118}} has not been practiced on Tar Island since 1990, with land now primarily used for summer cottages.{{cite journal|last=Bell|first=Michael|journal=Humanity & Society|year=2007|volume=31|issue=2–3|pages=219|doi=10.1177/016059760703100204|title=In the River: A Socio-Historical Account of Dialogue and Diaspora|s2cid=144703392 }}

• Iroquois
• Mississaugas
• Mohawk people
• Oneida people
• Grenadier Island (Saint Lawrence River)

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{{coord|44.391|-75.912|type:isle_region:CA-ON|display=title}}

Category:Islands of the Thousand Islands in Ontario