Thousand Islands Border Crossing and Canada border stations are located at the opposite ends of this span. The crossing is the westernmost of the three on the St. Lawrence River and is very busy, with up to two hours of waits during the summer. The US border station of Alexandria Bay has sometimes been called "Thousand Islands", and the Canada border station of Lansdowne has sometimes been called "Gananoque", named for the nearby town where international ferry service has historically (and continues to be) provided. These border stations are also responsible for inspecting vessel traffic between the two countries. The US has seasonal vessel
Thousand Islands in the mid-1990s with the arrival of zebra mussels, which feed on algae. The water is so clear in some areas that a rocky bottom can be observed in of water. The area has several shipwrecks, and although most of them are over underwater, some are a mere down and can be seen from the surface. Prior to European colonization, the Thousand Islands region was home to, or visited by, members of the Iroquois Confederacy and Ojibwa people. Their name for the islands was "Manitouana" or the "Garden of the Great Spirit". The region was a part of the War