Simcoe Island is a small island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

, just off Wolfe Island

Wolfe Island (Ontario)

Wolfe Island is an island located at the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River in Lake Ontario near Kingston, Ontario. Wolfe Island is part of Frontenac County, Ontario. Together with Howe Island, Simcoe Island, and Hickory Island forms the Township of Frontenac Islands. It is the largest of the...

, close to Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, and Amherst Island

Amherst Island

Amherst Island is one of the Thousand Islands in Lake Ontario near Kingston, Ontario. The island is approximately 70 km² in size, measuring 16.5 km long and 7 km at its widest. It is part of Loyalist Township in Lennox and Addington County. The two main communities on the island are...

. The island in almost completely farmland and can be reached by ferry from Wolfe Island. Part of Frontenac County

Frontenac County, Ontario

Frontenac County, as defined by Statistics Canada, is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. The City of Kingston is included in the census division, but is politically separated from the County of Frontenac. It has a land...

, it forms the township of Frontenac Islands, Ontario

Frontenac Islands, Ontario

Frontenac Islands is a township located in Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 1,862 in the Canada 2006 Census, and encompasses five islands at the beginning of the Saint Lawrence River near the outlet of Lake Ontario: Bayfield, Garden, Hickory, Horseshoe, Howe, Wolfe and...

 with Wolfe Island and Howe Island

Howe Island

Howe Island is an island located in the St. Lawrence River west of Kingston in Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Thousand Islands chain...

.

Although the island was originally named Isle de Foret ("Forest Island") by early French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 settlers, most of the trees on the island have been removed for farming, with the exception of small isolated forests and trees. The name Simcoe was given to the island in honour of John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...

.

The two main points of interest on the island are the cable ferry

Cable ferry

A cable ferry is guided and in many cases propelled across a river or other larger body of water by cables connected to both shores. They are also called chain ferries, floating bridges, or punts....

, the smallest in Ontario (holding a maximum of three cars), and the Nine Mile Point Lighthouse, accessible by the island's only main dirt road, Nine Mile Point Road. The lighthouse was built in 1833 and is an "Imperial" style light 40 feet high. Originally, this light was manually operated, but it is now fully automated. It is now a federal heritage building, and the graveyard of many ships sunk off the point, including the Comet, a paddle steamer from the United States, the Aloha, a 171-foot-long vessel, and the Effie Mae, which collided with the Aloha.