Area 3 includes the area from Ivy Lea to Rockport, including the Canadian Thousand Islands.
The property known as Darlingside, located on the mainland just east of the Thousand Islands Bridge, is one of the true cultural treasures of the Thousand Islands area. At first glance, you will see a small white Georgian structure set in a grove of old maples. The windows of the building look out over an excellent vista of the river. This old steamer stop has been a fixture on the St. Lawrence river for many years. This building and the Victorian house nearby are the central focus of the story of Darlingside.
Darlingside is a rare surviving example of the once numerous wood depots which fueled the steamers on the Upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario from the 1830's to the 1880's. Thomas Darling supplied local farmers with goods from Montreal in exchange for farm produce. The extensive documentation of the history of the site has led the Historic Sites and Monuments Board to declare Darlingside a National Historic Site.
Pitch Cove, to the east of Darlingside, was once the site of a pitch and tar making industry owned by the Wells family. Wells Island is named after this family In the last century, pitch was the only product in use for coating boats, scows and sloops; to make them watertight. The fact that there was a pitch making plant suggests that pitch pine trees were once more abundant in the area.
Hill Island, named after General Rowland Hill, is the largest Canadian island in this part of the river. Hill Island was previously known as LaRue Island or Rue's Island, after William LaRue, who operated a mill at LaRue Creek. He owned 1000 acres of forest along the St. Lawrence River making him an important industrial figure in the first half of the 19th century.
In 1937, work began on the Thousand Islands Bridge. In just over one year, the five span bridge joining Hill Island, Wellesley Island and the American mainland was completed. The official opening was held on August 18, 1938. This location was chosen for the bridge due to the large number of closely spaced islands. The name Horsethief Bay gives testimony to an earlier route that thieves used when leading stolen horses across Hill Island, Wellesley Island and eventually to the American shore.
In terms of geology, the area shows the effects of glaciation on the Thousand Islands. Sand and gravel deposits on Hill Island are evidence of an ancient beach. The waters around the Thousand Islands Bridge quicken and swirl due to an underwater waterfall, formed when the last glacier melted.
This part of the river landscape supports mature mixed forest, rocky outcrops and river marshes. It also contains one of the most extensive and least disturbed stands of the rare pitch pines. Other rare species include the triangle grape fern, forked panic grass and prostrate tick-trefoil.
The area provides important habitat for animal species such as the black rat snake, wild turkey, four-toed salamander, Cooper's hawk and red shouldered hawk. In winter, bald eagles are often seen fishing and roosting
near the Thousand Islands Bridge. They take advantage of the open waters resulting from the currents.