CROSSOVER ISLAND

Historical Information:

Prior to the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, Crossover Island was named due to its location near the point where vessels crossed over the international boundary between the United States and Canada.

• 1838: Naval Lieutenant C.T. Platt recommended to the Secretary of Treasury that a lighthouse be erected at Crossover Island, due to the fact that it would be difficult to travel through the area. He stated that there were numerous shoals and sunken islands obstructing the navigation in this area. He suggested that a building be erected with a light on top of the dwelling.
• 1847: Congress appropriated $6,000 to construct three lighthouses to mark the Thousand Islands area of St. Lawrence River. The easternmost of these was Crossover Island. 
• 1869: Much work was added and completed to the lighthouse grounds. A boathouse and ways were added, shutters were placed on the windows, the interior plastering and chimneys were renewed, and exterior walls were sheathed with boards. They had been constructed of an inferior materiel known as “soft brick.”
• 1872: Reports of leaking from the tower; tower and dwelling were described as being in very bad condition and not worth repairing. Funds for a new lighthouse were requested.
• 1882: A new keeper’s dwelling was finally erected. The dwelling is a two-story, six-room home. The dwelling has three gables, and was originally decorated with heavy cross-timbers and adorned with finials. A detached iron tower was placed on a concrete pad and lined with brick to the first landing. Wood covered the rest of the tower. A sixth-order Fresnel lens replaced the fourth-order Fresnel lens, and the old lens was shipped to another station.
• 1941: The lighthouse was discontinued.
• 1960: The government sold the lighthouse as surplus property.