1000 Islands Tower

People say there are a thousand islands along the St. Lawrence Seaway, but is there any way to really be sure? For more than half a century, this Hill Island, Ontario, observation tower has answered this question for many tourists visiting the Thousand Islands region of Canada.

The completion of Seattle’s Space Needle for the 1962 World’s Fair led to a boom in observation tower construction across American and Canadian cities throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Capitalizing on this fervor, a Czech entrepreneur named John David was inspired to create a tourist attraction of his own in the Thousand Islands, long a resort and summer vacation destination.

The concrete structure took over a year to complete and was opened to the public on June 15, 1965. At the time of its opening, it had the smallest width-to-height ratio of any building in the world. The tower stands more than 400 feet tall (130 meters), and offers stellar views of hundreds of islands and two countries, with a distinctive spiral staircase pattern that wraps around it (which is not accessible to the public). The tower contains three observation decks, and it takes about 40 seconds by elevator to reach the top.

Prominent Hill Island local Leonard Stratford purchased the tower in 1983 and owned it for nearly 30 years. When it came time for him to retire in 2011, he sold the tower to Konrad and Heidi Linckh, who had immigrated to Canada from Düsseldorf, Germany, after falling in love with the area on their honeymoon.

Even after sinking their life savings into the project, their bid came in under the asking price. However, their ambition and desire to keep the tower open as a public tourist attraction convinced Stratford that they were the best people to be entrusted with the operation.

Even now, visitors to the tower will be greeted by a tour guide to point out highlights of the area and to welcome them to the Thousand Islands.