It will be thirty-six years ago this August that I visited the
region of New York State known as the Thousand Islands and
saw Boldt Castle for the first time. Located on a small island
in the St. Lawrence River not far from the US-Canadian border
in Alexandria Bay, New York, the story behind this replica
Rhineland fairytale palace is both sad and intriguing.
Built on the appropriately named, Heart Island, the building
of the castle was conceived by a man named George Boldt Sr.
a Prussian-born immigrant who arrived on these shores in
1864, nearly penniless, but none the less, through determination
and hard work he sought to live the American dream. And he did!
He eventually became a very successful and wealthy hotelier,
managing the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York as well
as his own Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, PA
Image courtesy/Wikipedia
"A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far
more precious than rubies. The heart of her husband
trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value."
(Proverbs 31:10-11)
Image courtesy/Miles Geek
In 1877, George married the love of his life, a young woman
named Louise Augusta Kehrer. Her father was the steward of
Philadelphia's famous Clover Club, where she had met George
a few years earlier after he had been hired by her father to
work there, managing the kitchen and dining services.
Despite the 11 year difference in their ages, the couple was
very happy together and later had two children: a son,
George Charles Jr., born in 1879 and a daughter,
Louise Clover, born in 1884.
In the early 1890's with the help of some wealthy patrons
from the Clover Club, George Boldt opened his own first hotel,
the Bellevue, in Philadelphia. Although smaller than most
at that time, the Bellevue became a very popular place
to stay especially with those in the upper crust of society.
Louise was George's most helpful assistant in this endeavor,
making sure the amenities offered at the hotel were both
attractive and socially acceptable, especially with affluent
women who came to stay there with their husbands.
George Boldt later commissioned the building of the more prestigious
Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Center City Philadelphia. Completed in
1904, it was said to have been the largest hotel ever built in
the City of Brotherly Love at the time.
According to George and Louise's granddaughter, Clover Boldt Baird, her
grandfather once temporarily gave up the apartment he and her grandmother
lived in at the Bellevue after New York hotelier William Waldorf Astor arrived
unexpectedly at the hotel and found there were no available rooms.
Her grandfather's resourcefulness in handling the situation so impressed
Mr. Astor that he later invited George Boldt to manage his Waldorf Hotel
in New York City, which later became the world-famous Waldorf-Astoria.
During the summer months, the Boldts often vacationed in the Thousand Islands,
where George eventually purchased Heart Island for $100. Not long afterwards,
George, Louise, and their two children moved into a cottage on the island and
George began planning the dream castle he would build there for his beloved wife.
Work began on the castle in 1900. George Boldt hired only the finest craftsmen,
including stonemasons, carpenters and artists to fashion the six story, 120 room
castle and surrounding grounds, which included tunnels, a powerhouse,
Italian gardens, a drawbridge, a children's playhouse, and a dove cote.
Not a single expense was spared in this gift for his precious "Princess Louise".
Then, in January, 1904 Louise Boldt died suddenly at the age of 42.
Various sources claim she had been in delicate health for some time.
After a telegram arrived ordering all work on the castle to stop, the
crew of 300 workmen dropped their tools and left Heart Island,
never to return to work there again.
The elaborate sculptures, Italian carrara marble, imported tapestries,
fine furniture and other materials George Boldt had ordered for
the castle were also left behind, still inside their shipping crates.
Although George Boldt continued taking summer vacations in
the Thousand Islands after the death of his wife, he never
returned to Heart Island. He never remarried.
George Bolt died after suffering a heart attack on December 5, 1916.
Over time, the derelict castle and grounds on Heart Island were
ravished by the weather and acts of vandalism. The crates of
expensive building materials left there also disappeared.
Then in 1977, the Thousand Island Bridge Authority acquired
Heart Island, and decided to restore the castle and the grounds.
I can recall wandering through the echoing, empty halls of the castle and
the grounds, trying to imagine what it would have been like to live there.
I am glad that the years of dedication and hard work by the Bridge Authority
have finally paid off, and this once abandoned dream, an act of one man's
steadfast love and devotion for his wife, has been restored, and is
now a major tourist attraction in the Thousand Islands.
Today this beautiful castle stands in recognition, not only as a testimony of the
rags-to-riches life story and selfless generosity of the enterprising George Boldt,
but, as a reminder of the luxury and elegance of a by-gone era in America's past.
a Heartbreaking Love Story
Lesser Known Adventures
(January 1, 2023)
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