Boldt Castle (Alexandria Bay, NY) – June 2012

PRELUDE TO THE JOURNEY:

I’ve wanted to go back to the Thousand Island region since the previous year.  In addition to seeing areas that were connected to the cottage where so many summers were spent (places like Watertown, Cape Vincent, and Kingston), I wanted to go back to Boldt Castle again.  My family first went to Heart Island (where the castle is located) in the late 1970s when we visiting the Thousand Islands region (before the camp was a place of regular visitation).  This was not long after ownership of the Castle had been assumed by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, and they opened this vacant place to visitors.  I remember it was overcast and rainy, the pathways were muddy, the yards overgrown, and the castle itself (while structurally sound) had graffiti coating every inch of the interior.  At the time, it was really wasn’t that impressive, except for the fact it was an unfinished place that had been abandoned over seventy years before.

The second time I was here was circa 1996, when I took a bus trip up to Alexandria Bay, and a tour of the castle was part of the day trip.  I was surprised to see the amount of restoration which had happened.  While the interior of the main castle hadn’t changed much (still covered with graffiti), most of the other buildings on the island had been recovered from the near-ruin state I’d seen them in previously.  The grounds were mowed, and there was gravel on the pathways.  This was well on its way to becoming a preserved historical landmark.

Since I was in the process of writing a novel during that period, it seemed like the perfect place to set the climax.  Because my book was set in the modern day, I’d have my main character take his enforced hermitage in the “play house” (the tower structure at the water’s edge) in order to deal with the demons that haunted him (both in the mental and literal sense).  I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to end the story before that point, but after I saw the design of the “play house,” the final part jelled in my mind, and was able to conclude the tale.  Other information I’d found on that trip (specifically a cave called “Devil’s Oven” on an island about a mile or so away) was woven into the story.  At that point, it just needed a good spit-and-polish revision, and I could start in earnest of shopping it around for someone to publish it.

That part didn’t go too far, and the novel was shelved while I spent time on other works.  But since 2011 when I joined the CenTex Writer’s Group, I’d dragged the book out and had been submitted the chapters for critique.  That spurred me to start to do a major revision on it.  I’d told Mum at one point that I wanted to reacquaint myself with Boldt Castle, so I could add updated elements to the story.  I considered it would be a “research trip” as much as it was a holiday.  During the course of the revision, it became apparent there was no logical way to keep the climax of the story in the Thousand Islands region.  I still wanted to visit the area, though.  There was no way I’d be able to do an extensive visit to the other camp-related areas on this trip.  Visiting Boldt Castle would be enough this time around.

This is how you can tell I’ve lived in Texas for a bit.  Down there, were you have large tracts of land with open highway, you don’t think anything about driving three hours to get to some place on a day trip.  That’s because you have so many areas where there’s nothing.  Up in the Northeast, no matter what direction you go, you’re going to encounter something interesting within a half-hour.

Of course, in the same manner, I like highway driving because it gets me places faster.  I would’ve preferred us to cruise from Argyle to Fonda, pick up the New York State Thruway, exit near Syracuse, and then haul arse up Interstate 81 to Watertown.  I’ve done that trip in two-and-a-half hours.  But since I was a passenger, we took a more scenic route which took longer.  But we made it to our destination, and the familiarity of the area began to return as we reached the Thousand Islands region.

BOLDT CASTLE:  Monday, 18 June 2012

We found the parking space down at the docks of Alexandria Bay, and got tickets for the boat ride which would take across to Heart Island, where the castle was located.  The body of water we’d be crossing was the “American Channel” of the St. Lawrence River, by the way.  It didn’t bother me one bit that once we got to the island there would be an admission fee to the castle itself.  But as that money goes towards the restoration, that’s justified as far as I’m concerned.  Looking across the water while waiting for the boat make the ten minute journey, I looked across to see the castle sitting in the middle of the island, with the “play house” to the left, and the “power house” to the far right.

The boat ride brought us close to the island, and then arced around the right-hand (east) side past the “power house,” and brought us to the docks on the far side of the island; as that was the “rear” of the house, it made the most sense to place the tourist entrance there.  On a nearby island, about five minutes away, was the “boat house,” which could be visited for an additional cost.  I wanted to spend as much time with the castle as much as possible today.

Disembarking, we’re given a map of the island that told us what buildings were what, and gave some information about the history of the area.  A hotel owner from New York City visited the region in the early 1890’s, and was so impressed by it that he decided to build a “summer home” here.  George Boldt’s dream was to build a full-sized “Rhineland Castle” for his wife as a “gift of love,” and construction got underway in 1900.  Three-hundred workers were assembled to construct a six-story, 120-room castle.  But in 1904, when Mrs. Boldt died suddenly, Mr. Boldt told the workers to stop building and leave.  To him, there was no longer any reason to complete the magnificent structure.  So the partially-finished castle was abandoned, and George Boldt never returned.  The property remained in his family until the late 1970s.

One of the first things I noticed was the walkways were now paved with stones, as opposed to the gravel it was the last time I was here.  The lawns were nicely manicured, and the trees were neatly trimmed.  I decided I wanted to walk around the edge of the island first, before going into the castle proper.  I had joked with co-workers by saying I was going to “sack a castle” while on holiday, and had in mind to take a series of pictures detailing my “assault” (which I did post a dozen up on my CrackBook page).

We went past Swan Pond, where the Arch was located.  The pond was dug out from the existing island to make it heart-shaped, and the Arch originally meant to be the “main entrance” to the island.  The original plans called for some docks around the pond, as the boats which would be docking there would’ve been small private craft (nothing like what’d brought us over here).  The Arch faces Alexandria Bay, by the way.

Nearby was the “play house,” also known as Alster Tower.  This is based on the defense towers back in Hamburg, Germany (where the Boldt family originally came from), although considering the irregular-look of the structure, the builders probably just figured out the design as they went along.  While meant to be a location for the children to play, this has normal-sized ceilings.  This was completed and occupied by the Boldt family during the construction of the main castle.  Alster Tower has five floors (with the ground floor being the largest), and you could go all the way up to the battlements on the roof.  A covered porch (facing the water), and an open-air deck above it, gave a lot of additional living space.

In the aborted novel I wrote, I chose this as the location for the climax because it made the most sense to have a single person live a hermit lifestyle here.  I wouldn’t mind actually living in something like this because of the compact size, and eccentric style that gives it a lot of character.  The exterior of the tower was having some work done on it, so I couldn’t go inside this trip.

We followed the path away from Alster Tower which lead us around the “front” of the island (the side which faces Alexandria Bay).  Past a small stone gazebo, and the far wing of the main castle (where the “underground passage” is), which lead us down to the Power House.  Wandering down the stone brick way, it gave me an idea of what the island would’ve been like had it been completed as intended.

George Boldt’s intention was to provide electricity to the island, and it was to come from this building.  Gasoline and diesel engines would power generators for this purpose, as it would’ve been easier than running lines under the water.  The fuel would’ve still had brought over, but the tanks were large enough that refills wouldn’t need to be done too frequently.  The Power House is its own structure separate from the island, and the arched bridge provided access.  Most of the interior has been converted to museum space to show not only the generator, but some pictures and artifacts of the time period when the castle was being built.  One of the shots I liked the best was a picture from 1903 showing the castle under construction (ironically, a year before everything ceased).

From there, we could’ve followed the stone path around the backside of the castle (past where the visitor’s docks current is), but we decided to duck inside the Underground Passage.  Ignore any “dungeon crawl” references please.  This had a practical use.  In addition to housing the electrical wiring and water pipes coming from the Power House to the main castle, this also served as place for the servants to transport goods into the storage rooms in the foundation (allowing them to avoid hauling shit across the main floor).  In this time period, servants were supposed to move about silently or unnoticed to their masters.

Obviously, this was a section which hadn’t been restored yet, so there was a lot of the graffiti still present.  We exited the passage right before the main foundation, near the front of the castle.  We wandered to the side, where the Grand Entrance Staircase into the structure was.  Keep in mind, on this trip, we hadn’t even gotten inside the actual castle yet.  I lead our expedition this way with that in mind, as I wanted to save the most ornate items for last.

The castle has six stories, including the foundation (where the working swimming pool, and currently-being refurbished bowling alley was).  There are 127 rooms, including what would’ve been servants’ quarters (and portions of that are not yet open to the public).  The roofs had steel and concrete, and the walls are granite.  I knew from reading the brochure that most of the ground floor (as well as second and third) had been completed, so I looked forward to this.  Entering the main hall, we were greeted by the sight of the grand staircase to the second floor.  It looked nothing like this on my previous visits, and I found this breath-taking.

At the foot of the staircase there was a fireplace which had the Boldt family seal inlaid in front of it.  The food of the staircase was polished, which was close to what the original plans intended.  Looking up there was an ornate skylight.  Also on the first floor had a dinning hall with a large table, full library, and a billiards room.  You knew the Boldt’s were planning to have fun here, and this was to be more of a “summer home” for them.  The fireplace in the library is directly behind the one at the foot of the staircase.

Venturing up to the second floor, we saw where the bedrooms were for the individual members of the Boldt family.  Now as the castle was never actually finished, these rooms were never furnished.  During the restoration, the rooms were modeled with items which would’ve been common to the era of the early 20^th Century.  George Boldt had one of the smaller bedrooms, but had the corner with the circular-portion.  Louise Boldt’s bedroom was next door, and the children’s room (and indoor-plumbing bathroom) next to that.  On the other side of the second floor were the intended guest rooms, each roughly the same size of George Boldt’s room.

But as we got on the other side of the second floor, we could see how far the restoration process had gone.  Sections still had crumbling plaster on the walls, which had that particular smell.  This was why there were donation boxes near the grand staircase, and the castle had an admission fee.  The money was slowly making rooms like this one look like the previous shot you just saw.

The layout of the third floor was similar to the second, except access was a stairwell a short distance from the main grand staircase.  The third floor was intended to be servants’ quarters, and various work rooms for George Boldt’s hobbies (like a photography studio and dark room).

The fourth floor looked more like I’d remembered it, exposed brickwork and crumbling plaster walls, with bare wood floors.  On the previous visits, I remembered the extent of the graffiti on the walls, as the castle was in a state of disrepair.  These upper sections hadn’t changed much.

What we’re looking here is two forms of history.  The castle restoration project is the most obvious, but the graffiti is just as much history.  One can argue the defacing of the castle is pretty interesting, although less-important.  I would rather have a fully-restored castle, but the marks left by seventy years worth of visitors should be remembered in some manner.  Many of the pictures I took on the fourth floor chronicled this, as it would be gone sooner or later.

Most of the marks are simply names and dates, innocently made by those who visited a deteriorating novelty on Heart Island.  Many were faded with age, or not written very dark.  Some of the more notable (and legible) ones were four names from Buffalo, NY (July 1936), “Elmer Caniato from Utica, NY” (dated September 1942), and a couple names from August 1929, among others.

Above the fourth floor would be an additional level, where most of the roof structures were, so not really a living space.  That section has been restored enough to make sure the building is structurally sound, and to maintain the skylights, but otherwise closed off to the public.  Given time, that will look as ornate as the lower floors.

We worked our way back down to the first floor, and located the entrance to the foundation (basement) level.  Behind the grand staircase was another set of stairs to bring us down to the level where the swimming pool, boiler room, and other areas were.  There was an extension of the fireplace there too, which had an earlier version of the Boldt family crest inlaid in the stonework on the floor (mimicking the more-ornate design located directly above on the first floor, at the foot of the grand staircase).

Exiting the castle, we wandered around the grounds a little bit more to get a feel of the castle.  Also, I needed to have my particular photo opportunity done.  I brought my copy of Where When How (the Turks & Caicos magazine, which encouraged readers to take shots of themselves with the magazine in an identifiable “far away” place).  Knowing I’d be visiting a castle that day, I also made sure to where an appropriate “siege” shirt.  Yeah, I can be that anal, or twisted (you be the judge).

We took the ferry back to Alexandria Bay where we had a good lunch before heading back to Argyle.  While the current revision of the novel wasn’t even going to use Boldt Castle at all in there (and work on the revision has stalled for the time being, mainly because it’s more fun to write these journals), it was still a great time to reacquaint myself with this place.  I’m thinking if I can come back in say five years or so (at least no more than ten, though) to see how much this has improved.

More information can be found on the places we visited at:

            Thousand Islands Region:  http://www.visit1000islands.com/visitorinfo/

            Boldt Castle:  http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/

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