We don’t think there will ever come a day when we New Yorkers cease to complain about the size of our shoebox apartments, but it could get worse–the smallest inhabited island on Earth is only 3,300 square feet, or roughly the size of eight subway cars. And sure, that’s bigger than your typical NYC studio apartment, which is generally somewhere between 500 to 700 square feet, but we’re talking about an island here, surrounded by water, with a square footage of only 3,300!!!
The remote island is located in Alexandria Bay, New York, just about six hours from NYC, and it has a hilariously appropriate name: Just Room Enough Island (also known as Hub Island). Just one tree and one home are located on the plot of land, which is just slightly larger than a tennis court.
Just Room Enough Island lies on the St. Lawrence River between Heart Island and Imperial Isle, close to the U.S. border with Canada. It’s part of the bigger Thousand Islands chain in Alexandria Bay, which is actually a collection of 1,864 dotting the St. Lawrence River, most of which are just as small as Just Room Enough Island. Because of their size, most of the islands don’t accept visitors.
The history of Just Room Enough Island
Hub Island was purchased back in 1950 by the Sizeland family, who planted a tree built a small cottage to serve as their vacation home. The island, however, didn’t earn the title of smallest inhabited island until 1982 when the lighthouse on Britain’s Bishop Rock was automated and no longer required a human to operate it. Bishop Rock was twice the size of Hub Island and located just off the Isles of Scilly.
Just Room Enough Island today
Today, Just Room Enough Island is home to just one single cottage, one single tree, and two benches. Back in 2010 The Washington Post wrote:
The speck of land squeezes a house and a couple of wrought-iron benches pushed hard up against the shingles onto its banks. One misstep and you’re swimming.
We’re just wondering how they were able to get their furniture in the cottage–we thought carrying ours up a six-floor walk-up was bad!
Can I visit Just Room Enough Island?
Though the island has grown in popularity, because it’s private property you can’t actually visit Just Room Enough Island. Visitors do, however, board boats and float on by, eager to get a closer look.