Middle Island | nature preserve

 island, nature preserve

The southernmost point of land in Canada. . Located in Canadian waters, and hence indisputably under Canadian sovereignty, the island was privately owned for years by various U.S. landowners. Subsequently, Middle Island was purchased in 1999 by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and then donated to the Canadian national park system on September 6, 2000, when it was added to Point Pelee National Park.

Despite its fairly-remote location in the middle of the lake, it has seen occasional occupation by native americans from 500 BC to the 1500s or so. Until the American Civil War, it was a way-stop for slaves on the underground railroad seeking freedom in Canada, and was also used for army deserters fleeing the battle.

There are the ruins of a former lighthouse on the island, built in 1872 and fell into disuse in 1918. The 15-metre (49 ft) pyramidal square tower burned sometime afterward, but its stone foundation is visible.

During the later decades of the 19th century, the island saw some small-scale vineyards for winegrowing, like its vastly larger northern neighbor, Pelee Island.

Later on in the 1920s and 1930s, it became a center for rum-running during the time of American Prohibition (1920-1933). The remains of the prohibition-era 7-bedroom cllubhouse still remain visible to this day. The clubhouse's basement held a casino, and was carved entirely out of bedrock. After Prohibition was repealed in the United States and Canada, it became a brothel for a few years.

Until the 1950s, there was even a short 275 meter (900-foot) runway for small aircraft, but this has since become very overgrown.

Despite being part of Point Pelee Provincial Park, the island is now off-limits and officially closed to visitors, though people ARE allowed to anchor their boats just off-shore for birdwatching.