Boldt Castle, located on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands of the Saint Lawrence River, along the northern border of New York State, is a major landmark and tourist attraction in its region. Heart Island is part of the Town of Alexandria, in Jefferson County. George Boldt, general manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City and manager of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, and his family enjoyed an earlier frame cottage on Hart Island (the original islands name) for several summers, which they greatly expanded. In 1900, George Boldt launched an ambitious construction campaign to build a huge masonry structure, one of the largest private homes in America. He engaged the architectural firm G. W. & W. D. Hewitt and hundreds of workers for a six-story castle as a present to his wife. The construction of Boldt Castle ceased abruptly in early 1904 after the death of Boldts wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt. For 73 years, the castle and other stone structures were left exposed to the harsh winter weather and occasional vandals. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired Heart Island and the nearby yacht house in 1977, for one dollar, under the agreement that all revenues obtained from the castle operation would be applied towards restoration.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:49:59 +0000
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