Thousand Islands Bridge System

During the Great Depression, workers laboured long hours in all kinds of weather to build the five spans of the Thousand Islands Bridge System, completing the construction in just 16 months, 10 weeks ahead of schedule and under the $3,050,000 budget. Even without today’s more powerful, easy-to-operate, and reliable technology, they accomplished a remarkable feat using basic tools and seldom-used safety equipment, with only one worker killed. Most workers came from the local area, while high steel workers were brought from the Kahnawd:ke Mohawk Reserve in Quebec because they could work fearlessly at any height. Today the bridge, painted in a specially formulated green, is a tourist attraction and stands as a symbol of the determination and industriousness of its builders and of lasting friendship and peace between two nations.

Ontario · Canada