Association Island is a island located at the northern tip of Stony Point, a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

on the eastern shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. A part of the Town of

Henderson, New York Henderson is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Jefferson County, New York, Jefferson County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2010 census. The town is named after William Henderson, the o ...

in Jefferson County, the island is about southwest of

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

. A two-lane causeway connects the island to the mainland.

History

Association Island was once part of a continuous protrusion of land known in the 19th century as Six Town Point. The name was in reference to the town of Henderson being recorded as the sixth of 11 unnamed towns that were delineated during a 1796 survey of the Black River Tract. Erosion from Lake Ontario waves divided Six Town Point into several small islands at some time prior to 1898. A fort of French construction briefly existed upon Six Town Point during the 18th century. It is uncertain exactly who constructed the fort, and precisely when it was constructed; however it was likely built in 1756 under the order of General Montcalm during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, just prior to his victory at the

Battle of Fort Oswego The Battle of Fort Oswego was one in a series of early French victories in the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War won in spite of New France's military vulnerability. During the week of August 10, 1756, a force of regulars and Can ...

in August 1756. The small fort, approximately long on each side, was likely abandoned soon after that battle. In 1905 the

National Electric Light Association The National Electric Light Association (NELA) was a national United States trade association that included the operators of electric central power generation stations, electrical supply companies, electrical engineers, scientists, educational i ...

bought the island, which resulted in the name "Association Island". NELA management used it for meetings.

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

, after it acquired NELA in 1911, also used the island for company meetings. The Elfun Society, a management organization and think-tank within General Electric, was founded on the island in 1928. The society's logo was a drawing of a large

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

tree from the island. General Electric donated the island to the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

in 1959, and the Elfun Society was dissolved by General Electric in 2014. After receiving the island in 1959, the

ran a boy's

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

on the island for several years until abandoning it after 1967. A non-profit group ran sailing and Boardsailing competitions on the island in the 1970s. The US sailing team was based there while preparing for the

1976 Montreal Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, which held sailing competitions at

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

, about to the north. The island became a privately owned

RV park A recreational vehicle park (RV park) or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as "sites" or "campsites". They are also referred to as campgrounds, though a true ...

and resort in 1999. The RV park operates as "Association Island KOA 1000 Islands" with address 15530 Snowshoe Rd. Henderson, NY 13650. It is an independently owned KOA franchise.

In popular culture

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

based some of the material in his 1952 novel ''

Player Piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...

'' on General Electric's meetings and activities at the island, and claimed that the island was "shut down" after the book was widely read in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, the location of the company's headquarters.

References

External links

KOA 1000 Islands Campground on Association Island
{{authority control Islands of Jefferson County, New York Private islands of New York (state) Islands of Lake Ontario in New York (state) Private islands of the Great Lakes