Carleton Island
 Carleton Island
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| Geography | |
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| Location | St. Lawrence River at Cape Vincent, Jefferson County, New York |
| Coordinates | 44°10′43″N 76°17′17″W / 44.17861°N 76.28806°WCoordinates: 44°10′43″N 76°17′17″W / 44.17861°N 76.28806°W |
| Area | 2.8 sq mi (7.3 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 331 ft (100.9 m) |
| Administration | |
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New York
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| County | Jefferson County |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 34 homes with 54 residents (2008) |
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Fort Haldimand Site
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Remains of Fort Haldimand, 1906
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| Nearest city | Cape Vincent, New York |
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| Area | 25 acres (10 ha) |
| Built | 1778 |
| Built by | Twiss, William |
| NRHP Reference # | 78001854 |
| Added to NRHP | December 15, 1978 |
Carleton Island is located in the St Lawrence River in upstate New York. It is part of the Town of Cape Vincent, in Jefferson County.
Originally held by the Iroquois, the first European to take notice of the island was Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, in 1720. He called it Isle aux Chevreuils, the Island of Roe Bucks, and wrote in 1721 that its bays could be useful. It was also referred to as Buck Island or Deere Island. During the American Revolutionary War the British used the island as a military supply transshipment location and the island was fortified. There was also a dockyard.
The island was renamed Carleton Island after Major General Sir Guy Carleton, Governor of the Province of Quebec. It was one of several islands in the area that were named by John Graves Simcoe after General James Wolfe's adjutants in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The largest is Wolfe island, while the others are Howe Island, Amherst Island, and Gage Island (now Simcoe Island).
Carleton Island was the location of Fort Haldimand, initially called Fort Carleton, which was controlled by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was strategically important as well as being a center of shipbuilding. The fort was built in 1778 and named after British General Frederick Haldimand. It was built on the southwest end of the island, shaped as a partial octagon, and consisted of bastions, ditches, barracks and magazines.
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