FORT HENRY

Plaque at the entrance to the fort, Kingston

The fort at this location recognized the strategic importance of Kingston at the junction of three waterways, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and the Rideau River. It was built to protect the British dockyards during the War of 1812. The present limestone citadel, constructed between 1832 and 1837, replaced the old fort and was as part of a larger plan for the defence of the recently completed Rideau Canal. Its storerooms and repair shops under archways facing the parade square at extreme left were used to house prisoners taken by the British in the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838. As well, Nils Gustaf von Schoultz, leader of the failed Battle of the Windmill, 11 -16 November 1838, was executed outside these walls on 8 December 1838.