Alexandria Bay reveals a place that is blessed with extraordinary natural beauty, great fishing, fine resorts, and myriad entertainments. Located in the heart of the Thousand Islands, Alexandria Bay-a preeminent tourist destination for visitors from all nations-owes a great part of its history to its strategic position on the St. Lawrence River, the natural border between Canada and the United States. Surveyed as a potential shipping port in 1804, the area was not settled until after the War of 1812. French nobleman James D. LeRay built the first tavern and warehouse in 1818 to serve nascent shipping and logging industries and named the new settlement after his son, Alexander. By 1848, the first hotel had opened, signaling the birth of a tourist industry. Real prominence, however, began with a visit by President Ulysses S. Grant and family in 1872; the construction of palatial summer "cottages" and the opening of deluxe hotels followed shortly thereafter. Thus evolved the burgeoning business of tourism, which to this day constitutes the primary occupation of the village.