FRONTENAC ISLAND
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Frontenac Island, containing somewhat less than an acre of land, was
used by the Aborigines as a place of sepulcher, and for many years
large quantities of bones and relics of Indian warfare were to be found
there. In 1856 the State Legislature deeded the island to the trustees
of Union Springs, and for a time it was kept as a park and pleasure
ground, having been cleared of underbrush, and gravel walks built, with
seats along each shore for visiting pleasure seekers. Frontenac Island
Is the only island in this tier of lakes.1
“….. the Island of Frontenac, that gem of the western lakes, form[s] a scene
worthy of the pencil of an artist.
“This Island, lying three quarters of a mile from the town, and two miles from
the shore of Seneca county, contains about one acre of land, and was formerly a burial
place of the Aborigines. The numerous relics of Indian warfare, and the large amount of
human bones found here, attest this fact. This Island was deeded to the village of Union
Springs in accordance with the following:
"An Act to vest in the trustees of the village of Union Springs, the title, use, and
occupation of the Island in Cayuga Lake, opposite to said village. "Passed April, 1856.
"The people of the State of New York, represented in the Senate and Assembly,
do enact as follows:
"1. The commissioners of the land office, are hereby authorized and directed to
sell and convey to the trustees of the village of Union Springs, the Island lying in the
Cayuga Lake, opposite to said village, for the sum of one dollar, in trust, to be forever
held, kept, and maintained by said trustees and their successors, for the use and benefit of
the citizens of said village, as a park and pleasure ground.
“2nd. The said trustees shall, immediately upon the receipt of the deed or
conveyance of said Island, make such regulations and by-laws, and they are hereby
authorized so to do, and shall cause the trees on said Island to be preserved uninjured, and
the grounds kept from injury, and whatever other regulations may be necessary in their
judgment, to carry out the true intent and meaning of the act, And the said regulations
may be enforced by such
penalties as said trustees shall determine.
"3d. This act shall take effect immediately."
Soon after the granting of the deed, a public meeting was held in the village, in order to
carry out the intent of this act, and Frontenac Island was greatly improved by the citizens.
- CITIZEN ADVERTISER
February 5, 1953
By RICHARD T. KING
Scan 4297.
1
Brushwood was cleared away, gravel walks were made, and seats were fitted up,
rendering it a fine pleasure ground.
“Great interest attaches to this little spot, as no other Island is found in this tier
of Lakes. It has furnished the theme of one of Street's most beautiful poems:
FRONTENAC.
“Sweet Sylvan Lake! one single gem
Is in thy liquid diadem,
No sister has this little lake
To give its beauty smile for smile,
With it to hear the bluebirds sing
"Wake, leaves and flowers, here comes the spring"With it to weave for summer's tread,
Mosses beneath and bowers o'erhead.
With it to flash to gorgeous skies,
The opal pomp of autumn's dyes,
And when the winter's tempests blow,
To shrink beneath his robes of snow.
“Sweet Sylvan Lake! that lake of thine
Is like one hope through grief to shine,
Is like one tie our life to cheer,
Is like one flower when all is sere,
One ray amidst the tempest's might,
One star amidst the gloom of night.”2
“Frontenac Island, solitary gem of the Finger Lakes, containing less than an acre of land,
was used by the Algonkians as a place of Sepulcher. It was purchased for $1.00 by
Leonard Simons, while a Member of Assembly in Albany and deeded to the trustees of
Union Springs by Cyrus H. Davis in March, 1858, to be kept exclusively as a park and
pleasure ground. This transaction cost $16.00.”3
2
- Brigham’s General Directory – Pages 233-242 – 1863, by Edward A. Thomas & Caleb Winegar .
3
- 1948 Centennial Program – A History of Our Village, Page 5, by Margaret E. Getman.