Save Blinkbonnie

Save Blinkbonnie The Macdonald-Stone Foundation a Nonprofit Organization has had an interest in seeing Blinkbonnie res

Blinkbonnie was the beloved home of 5 generations of the Macdonald family until Blinkbonnie became a majestic stately inn in the Canadian Thousand Islands in the 1920’s. Blinkbonnie was home to a famous resident in his day, Charles Macdonald, ASCE. Charles leaves a legacy as one of the most accomplished civil engineers of his generation. Charles was the owner of three bridge companies and a dedica

ted community leader serving on boards of directors for museums, foundations and commissions to investigate bridge failures. Macdonald was considered one of the leading bridge engineers of his time and became one of the preeminent authorities on iron bridge construction in his day. He had a role in designing and building many famous bridges including the Hawkesbury Bridge in Australia, Poughkeepsie Bridge across the Hudson River in New York State and as a trustee of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City which opened in 1883. Blinkbonnie was built in 1812 by the first Charles Mcdonald. Charles had been instrumental in developing Gananoque as a town. He married the daughter of Joel Stone, the founder of Gananoque. After a few years Charles was well-off enough to build the first Blinkbonnie. That first house burned to the ground in 1826, the year Charles died at the age of 40. His son, William Stone, changed the family name to Macdonald and inherited Blinkbonnie.

05/17/2020

Blinkbonnie is one of those buildings that people continue to love and care about

03/26/2020

Good weather is coming. Hoping for a nice spring and fresh air.

We will prevail over this virus. Wash hands and stay home. Canada be safe. Care about others. Our prayers go out to the ...
03/20/2020

We will prevail over this virus. Wash hands and stay home. Canada be safe. Care about others. Our prayers go out to the world and hope this will end soon.

01/25/2020

The old Blinkbonnie photos 1890s-1970s

01/02/2020

old video for Blinkbonnie

How did the Macdonald's who built Blinkbonnie come to Canada and the US? There was a long history in Scotland of the Bri...
12/29/2019

How did the Macdonald's who built Blinkbonnie come to Canada and the US?
There was a long history in Scotland of the British clearing the highlands and islands of the Highland Scots. The Highlanders lived in the mountains to the north and west of Scotland. These evictions in the time period, 1770 to about 1860 were known as the Highland Clearances. A time when the Highlanders were evicted from their home and lands. These expulsions significantly impacted the Scots and they never recovered their farms or property. Most had no choice but to migrate to other countries. Many emigrated to the US Colonies and Nova Scotia and mainland Canada. The Highlanders preferred mountainous areas which were similar to their Scottish Highlands.
During this time whole clans of Highland Scots emigrated to the American Colonies to settle, most put down roots in South Carolina and Virginia. Although a large number settled in upstate New York. They became farmers and tradesmen.
Clan Donald is considered one of, if not, the largest Scottish Clan. It is from this clan that the Macdonald’s of Gananoque trace their heritage from the Macdonald’s of Sleat.

Note: The end of the Highland way of life really began with the Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746, when the British government swiftly acted to break the resistance of the proudly independent Gaelic society. Highlanders could no longer meet in public or bear arms. The wearing of tartan, teaching Gaelic and even playing the bagpipes were outlawed by the 1747 Act of Proscription.

THE HIGHLAND Clearances are an infamous chapter in Scottish history, the cruel story of how the Highland people were dispossessed of their homes by their landlords. So emotive is the subject that many writers denounce the clearances as the first act of modern ethnic cleansing. Yet, while economic fo...

12/29/2019

Blinkbonnie is Scottish for Beautiful View. Original house built in 1812 by Charles Macdonald town forefather. Charles was born in Scotland emigrated to the US in 1785 with his family. He moved to Gananoque in 1809. He became partners with Joel Stone, town founder, and married his daughter Mary. He became a prosperous businessman and built Blinkbonnie in 1812. It burned in 1826 and was rebuilt. In the early 1900s Charles Macdonald, grandson of the original builder, expanded on the house and added a top floor and the exterior porches. It remains today still standing after all these years. Its stone walls are in some places 24 inches thick and were built to withstand fire and the elements. It was a gorgeous building in its day.

11/19/2019
11/19/2019

The profile picture is of the Macdonald room. Pretty nice from that time period early 1900's

11/19/2019

This old postcard is of the 1930-40s when Rebecca Edwards owned Blinkbonnie and had rooms for guests. This one is the Joel Stone room. There is another post card of the Macdonald room. She appreciated the history of Gananoque. Lovely recreation of her time. The rooms upstairs still have those square sinks in them

11/11/2019

An interesting story about Charles Macdonald on the far right. Today is Veterans Day in the US a time to honor veterans who served in the military. In the 1860s Charles Macdonald joined up to fight for the North in the US Civil War. He joined the Pennsylvania Volunteers and was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. At that time, if a non-citizen joined up to fight for the North in the civil war, the soldiers were given US citizenship if they wished. Charles became a US citizen not long after the war. He went on to become one of the preeminent bridge builders of his day. Retiring in 1908 he returned to his beloved home Blinkbonnie for the remainder of his life.

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PO Box 291 50 Main Street
Gananoque, ON
K7G2T8

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+15852503222

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Our Story

Blinkbonnie was the beloved home of 5 generations of the Macdonald family until Blinkbonnie became a majestic stately inn in the Canadian Thousand Islands in the 1920’s.

The Macdonald-Stone Foundation was formed to save Blinkbonnie and see it restored in the early 1900’s time period. MSF is dedicated to restoring and preserving the heritage of the Macdonald ancestral home. .“Blinkbonnie” should be restored and maintained to benefit the larger Ontario, Canada community for cultural activities, the arts, historic and educational purposes.

Blinkbonnie, “beautiful view” or “glimpse of beauty” in Scots Gaelic was built by one of the early pioneers, first settlers and founding father of Ontario, Canada; Charles Mcdonald. Mcdonald arrived in Gananoque in 1809 and in 1811 married Mary Stone, daughter of Joel Stone, United Empire Loyalist. Stone received a land grant for his contributions fighting for the crown during the American War of Independence. The land grant area was later settled and became the Town of Gananoque, circa 1790.

By 1811, Charles Mcdonald was established in his community and soon after opened the first business in town. In addition, Charles helped build the first post office and school. He built Blinkbonnie circa 1812 for his growing family. The original wooden building burned in 1826 then was rebuilt of stone and completed in 1843. Blinkbonnie remained in the Mcdonald family from father to oldest son for 4 generations until William Stone Macdonald II (1862-1923) died suddenly without a will and the house was sold to settle his estate.