An Ancient History of Rockport

Edited from that written ca.1945 by Effie Jane Poole Slate

The first settlers came to this area 200 years ago (ca. 1797 ).The wars that had flickered along the St. Lawrence were stilled, the river was cold and clear and blue, and there was a silence in the forests, just as there had been since the beginning of time.

The settlers were chiefly devout Scottish and Irish immigrants who brought with them the Catholic and Presbyterian faiths. They came under sail to Montreal, blown across the Atlantic. They sailed upriver from Montreal, cleared the virgin forests and built log houses in the wilderness.

Some carried Royal patents to land. In the Township of Escott a patent for 200 acres was granted to Jacob Baker in 1797. The following year, to Elisah Mallory, and within the next years - until 1835, patents were granted to Edward Bissell, Willam Larue, Elijah Whitney, Calib Seamans, Arn Andrews, John Kirker, Benny Kirker, Rebecca Avery, John David Latimer, James Redman, Jacob Pool, HenryTricky, and a family named Darling. They stayed and prospered, and intermarried, and their descendents still live in Escott Township. Many of those without patents settled the Islands as squatters. Some Islands were held as an Indian reserve until 1890 when the Crown sold the lands at public auction and told the Indians there would be another reservation for them near Deseronto.

Once, where Rockport is now situated, there was a natural harbour along the River marked by a huge, lichen-covered boulder. In fact, many a boatmen at night could see the loom of the rock and knew the harbour lay snug in its shoulder. In 1848, Charles Cornwall came to Rockport with his first bride to run the store owned by Andrew Cornwall, his brother. A year later they bought the store and the docks and the waterfront property. He bought land and cleared the timber and sold it to the boats plying between Montreal and Toronto. Mr. Cornwall was councilman for twenty years and died on February 8, 1905 leaving his fortunes to his second wife. [In 1919, the "Queen of peace" monument was dedicated to the memory of Mr. Cornwall by his second wife, Mrs. L. Cornwall, located on the highest point of their property, adjacent to the Catholic church (erected in 1891)]

A post office was established here in 1857. Mail was brought in twice a week only, from Mallorytown. The mail boats used to stop in Rockport. They belonged to a line which ran from Montreal to Toronto. Most of the ships then, were sidwheelers - the Corsican, the Spartan, the Algerian, the Corinthian, to name a few. Many of these paddlewheelers stopped for firewood. The farmers cleared the land and sold their cordwood ... they were not given cash, but traded for their wood. Rockport's first steam boat was owned by Captains Robert and John Carnegie, and was called the Island Queen. She carried 300 passengers on excursions through the Thousand Islands in 1888 and also made trips between Brockville and Kingston.

A hotel was built by a Mr. Dollinger. There was an upstairs hall for entertainment, dancing and shows. Once a year a travelling photographer would come to the hall for a day of two, and people from the back country and up and down the riverbank would come to have their pictures taken. Many of the photographs and tintypes are still to be found in the homes in and around Rockport today.

There was considerable excitement when the first telephone line made its way into Rockport and there was a local telephone office placed here. The first telephone message was received in Rockport on Nov. 7, 1891 by Mr. Fitzsimmons, over a rickety wire that in some places ran atop fence posts from Lansdowne.

In 1892, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Huck moved to Rockport and opened a blacksmiths shop on what was called the old Carnegie dock. The Hucks lived there four years when they set up a machine shop and boat building shop. In 1898 Huck built his first boat " the Lizzie". In 1899 he built "the Leone" and in 1901 "the Ellen". These were steam boats and their captains were Richard Cook and John Carnegie. Mr. Huck also built several Invictus engines.

 In 1895, the enterprising Mr. Cornwall built a cheese factory along the banks of Rockport harbour below St. Brendan's church calling it the Thousand Island Cheese factory. Farmers raved about receiving the high prices for their milk. However, local island residents raged about the price of food delivered by Mr. Cornwall to their, island estates ... 25 cents for butter and 10 cents for a quart of milk. The cheese factory burned in 1905 as a result of sparks thrown from one of the many passing steam ships.

The first Ferryboat from Alexandria Bay to Rockport started operation in the year of 1924. Owned by the Hutchision Brothers with a flat scow and a motorboat to tow the scow. Later the ferry was taken over by the Hutchision Ferry Co. Inc. in the year of 1925, when the Roosevelt was put on to take the place of the scow. As the business developed another boat was necessary to accommodate the increased traffic. The General Hancock took over in the year 1929 until the Thousand Island Bridge was erected and the ferry boats were discontinued.

Ed. By PM 1997

Some of the earliest patents granted by the Crown for lands situated in Township of Escott were:

Beny Kirker, John Kirkers' sister, married John David Latimer