St. Joseph Island-beauty abound.

For a community with a population of less than 200, Hilton Beach on St. Joseph Island has a lot to offer businesses, residents and visitors, says Gloria Fischer, economic development coordinator.

The community is located 75 kilometres east of Sault Ste. Marie in the heart of the Great Lakes, and is the second-largest fresh-water island in the world. It is known as The Garden of Algoma for its plentiful flora and fauna.

This beauty is part of the reason tourism is the island's main economic industry, Fisher says. In winter, 170 kilometres of groomed snowmobile trails line the island, and many more trails on the mainland link Hilton Beach to destinations such as Richards Landing, Bruce Mines, Desbarats, Sault Ste. Marie and Drummond Island and many other trail systems in Michigan and Ontario.

In spring the island's sugar shacks come alive as maple sugar begins to boil. During the summer, the island's population more than doubles as many seasonal residents move back into their summer cottages and the tourists visit the quiet villages and beaches, Fisher says.

"Hilton Beach Marina is the foundation of the local tourism infrastructure," Fischer says. "It is a modern, fully serviced marina for transient and seasonal boats. As well, the village has an extensive variety of special events designed to attract people to the community, with the expectation that they will return to visit, purchase property, etc. Currently a golf course is being planned that is partially located within the village boundaries."

Some of the community's top employers include the Village of Hilton Beach, Hilton Beach Hotel, Hilton Beach General Store, Hilton Beach Tourist Park and Hilton Harbour Resort.

The island's tourism draw is strong, says Hilton Beach Hotel's co-owner Lydia Hore. The hotel is the top private-sector employer in the community.

"During snow-machine season we're busy, and then it quiets around March," she says. "Then in the summer months it picks up again. We change with the tourist seasons."

Hilton Beach Hotel serves mostly as a restaurant and partially as a bar, she says. In the summer months, they have 12 to 14 employees, while in winter that number goes down to about six.

The hotel has some very historic sections dating back to the early 1900s, with more modern areas added on in recent years. Hore has been co-owner of Hilton Beach Hotel since 1990, and in those years she has seen many renovations and upgrades to give their customers the best, she says. Some of the renovations included an expansion of the dining room and the addition of a deck overlooking the waterfront.

"It's very lovely here," Hore says. "St. Joseph Island is a gorgeous place to be. The area has grown a lot in the past 10 years, and I see big changes happening in the next five years-more people coming, but we'll still keep the small-town quaintness for a while."

Because it is in a small community with about 12 businesses, Hilton Beach Hotel acquires its supplies from Sudbury, Massey and Sault Ste. Marie, she says.

The community would like to attract more businesses and industries, mainly tourism-based, as well as the secondary and tertiary conversion of forest products, Fisher says.

"There is need for increased bandwidth for information and communication technology as well as three-phase power if there is to be any industrial development," Fisher says. "The village is participating in the ADnet/CDC initiative to secure broadband width for St. Joseph Island, as well as doing the preliminary work on the three-phase power initiative. As well, the village is planning an expansion of fifty slips to the Hilton Beach Marina."

The marina is located immediately adjacent to village streets along a newly renovated waterfront. The Hilton Beach Marina is the resident port of a small fleet of sail and power boats.

Other amenities, besides the marina, include Hilton Web Connection (public Internet access site), Hilton Union Public Library, three public parks, a recreation facility, municipal office, community hall that seats 300, and plenty of capacity in both the municipal water and sewer facilities.

St. Joseph Island is the most westerly of the Manitoulin chain of islands and the western tip of the Niagara escarpment. Settlement started on the island in 1776 when Fort St. Joseph was built on the southernmost point of the island, forming a key link along fur-trade routes to the northwest and providing military presence as the most westerly British post in Upper Canada. Destroyed by American forces in the War of 1812, in retaliation for the British occupation of Fort Michilimacinac, its remains are now the site of a modern interpretive centre owned by Parks Canada.