For those who long fantasized of owning an island, this may be an interesting proposition for you. Fitzwilliam Island, located on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay near Manitoulin Island, is currently listed for a whopping $29,500,500.
The 12,248 acre property is uninhabited with no year-round residences. The island features rock outcroppings, a large expanse of untouched forestry, and clear waters, with off-white slabs of limestone visible from its shallow areas. The waters surrounding the island are 50-feet deep, including several deep harbours.
One of those harbours, known as Rattlesnake Harbour, was known for its fishing post in the early 1900s. The island is close to near-shore fisheries, which provide walleye, small and largemouth bass, and northern pike. However, these aren’t the only animals you may encounter on the property. The island is home to the black bear and the Massasauga rattlesnake, Ontario’s only venomous snake.
Along with its wildlife, the property has several nearby shipwrecks—The Lottie Wolf, a 126-foot-long, three-masted schooner, sank in a storm in October of 1891, between Hope Island and Fitzwilliam Island. With many pieces of the ship still intact, the site offers a diving opportunity, which the area around the Bruce Peninsula is known for.
Several other noteworthy shipwrecks are: the City of Cleveland, which sank in a snowstorm in 1901, and the Alice Hackett, whose shipwreck inspired the nickname of Horse Island, after one of the horses fled the ship and was left behind. Though, it’s possible this may be an old tale inspired by the shipwreck.
The historical relevance of this land can also be tied to its relation to the Indigenous Peoples. This is the first time Fitzwilliam Island has been on sale publicly as it was privately owned for quite some time. In 2015, the federal government attempted to acquire the land in order to return it to the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island. However, the owner was unwilling to sell—resulting in Phillip Edward Island and its archipelago, along with George Island—offered in exchange.
Fitzwilliam Island has only been on the market for a couple of weeks. Thus, potential buyers for the property still remain a mystery. On April 1st, a.k.a. April Fool’s Day, The Manitoulin Expositor published an article claiming that SpaceX purchased the island for the purposes of creating Canada’s first combined data centre campus and commercial rocket launch facility. While the story was clearly a harmless prank, there still seems to be no current information on what will happen to the island next.
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