A Turkish Angora Goat
In 1907, Charles Fowler Garfield purchased what is now Eagle Island from Colonel Parsons’ widow. Garfield was the owner of a large real estate and investment corporation in Rochester, New York. He also served as president of several banks and president of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Originally from Holley, New York, he was a third generation descendant of President James Garfield, 20th President of The United States. The Island changed names once again. This time it was renamed, “Garfield Island”, after its current owner.
Photo of Charles Fowler Garfield courtesy of Rosa Fox Town of Huron Historian and Stephen E. Garfield who is a direct descendant of Charles Garfield.
Charles Garfield had a problem. He wanted to build an impressive homestead and turn the entire island into a park like setting. But how do you do that to 98 acres of mostly trees and heavy underbrush? Charles Garfield was a man of both vision and action and he came up with a bold and audacious plan. No one seems to know if he ever followed through with this plan but it gets high marks for creativity. Read a Rochester newspaper article about it by clicking the link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tS6eKGNOv97clrj-XqaNWyzXTI13_vRq/view?usp=sharing
