Shoal Tower | |
---|---|
Confederation Basin, Kingston, Ontario Canada. | |
Type | Martello tower |
Site history | |
Built | 1847 |
Materials | Local limestone |
Official name | Shoal Tower, Kingston |
Part of | Rideau Canal |
Criteria | Cultural: (i)(iv) |
Reference | 1221-005 |
Inscription | 2007 (31st Session) |
Area | 0.32 ha (34,000 sq ft) |
Buffer zone | 1.68 ha (181,000 sq ft) |
Coordinates | 44°13′43.5″N76°28′41.5″W / 44.228750°N 76.478194°W |
Shoal Tower, originally known as Victoria Tower, is a Martello tower located in the harbour (Confederation Basin) of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, directly opposite Kingston City Hall. It is one of four such towers built in the 1840s to protect Kingston's harbour and the entrance to the Rideau Canal. Cathcart Tower on Cedar Island, Shoal Tower in the Confederation Basin, Fort Frederick on the grounds of the Royal Military College of Canada, and Murney Tower were part of the same strategic improvements. Although 16 Martello towers were built in Canada, only 11 are still standing, [1] four of them in Kingston. [2]
Built in 1847, this limestone tower is 11 m high and 16.5 m in diameter. [3] The guns of Shoal Tower defended the approaches of Kingston Harbour. A dispute between Great Britain and the United States over the boundary between British Columbia and Oregon that threatened to lead to war and to the invasion of Canada (see Oregon crisis) prompted their construction. [4] Eventually Shoal Tower was abandoned.
It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1930, [5] [6] and is part of the Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site. [7]
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, a tourist region to the east, and the Prince Edward County tourist region to the west. Kingston is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because it has many heritage buildings constructed using local limestone.
Citadel Hill is a hill that is a National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Four fortifications have been constructed on Citadel Hill since the city was founded by the English in 1749, and were referred to as Fort George—but only the third fort was officially named Fort George. According to General Orders of October 20, 1798, it was named after King George III. The first two and the fourth and current fort, were officially called the Halifax Citadel. The last is a concrete star fort.
The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres upstream along the Rideau River to the Rideau Lakes, and from there drop 50 metres downstream along the Cataraqui River to Kingston.
Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts.
Fort Henry National Historic Site is located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada on Point Henry, a strategic, elevated point near the mouth of the Cataraqui River where it flows into the St. Lawrence River at the east end of Lake Ontario. The fort and the point on which the fort was built were named after Henry Hamilton, former Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec.
Point Pleasant Park is a large, mainly forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and still contains the Prince of Wales Tower - the oldest Martello tower in North America (1796). The park is a popular recreational spot for Haligonians, as it hosts forest walks and affords views across the harbour and out toward the Atlantic.
Murney Tower is a Martello tower in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, whose construction dates to January 1846. The Tower was built in response to the Oregon Crisis, which was a tense dispute over the border between British North America and the United States in the 1840s.
Confederation Park(French: Parc de la Confédération) is a public park and National Historic Site of Canada, located in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the south by Laurier Avenue and Ottawa City Hall; on the east by the Rideau Canal and National Defence Headquarters; on the north by the Mackenzie King Bridge, the Rideau Centre and the National Arts Centre; and to the west by Elgin Street and the Lord Elgin Hotel.
The Battlefields Park includes the Plains of Abraham with the nearby and smaller Des Braves park, both within the district of Montcalm in Quebec City, and forms one of the few Canadian national urban parks. Its significance lies in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759) and the Battle of Sainte-Foy, fought six months later on today's Des Braves park.
York Redoubt is a redoubt situated on a bluff overlooking the entrance to Halifax Harbour at Ferguson's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada, originally constructed in 1793. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1962.
Fort Frederick is a historic military building located on Point Frederick on the grounds of the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its construction dates to 1846 and the Oregon boundary dispute. The fort consists of earthworks surrounding a Martello tower. Fort Frederick is included in two separate National Historic Sites of Canada: Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site and the Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site.
Cathcart Tower is a Martello tower located on Cedar Island in the St. Lawrence River, off the eastern shore of Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is one of four such towers built in the 1840s to protect Kingston's harbour and the entrance to the Rideau Canal. The other towers are: Fort Frederick, Shoal Tower, and Murney Tower. Alexander Mackenzie was a foreman on the construction of the Carthcart Tower and later went on to become Canada's second prime minister 1873–1878. It was his work crew whose boat capsized while returning from Cedar Island, drowning 17 men. Hamilton Cove was subsequently renamed Deadman's Bay.
Carleton Martello Tower in Saint John, New Brunswick, is one of the nine surviving Martello Towers in Canada. The tower dates from the War of 1812 and played a significant role in conflicts until the Second World War. The site now features a restored powder magazine, a restored barracks room, and exhibits in the tower and in the visitor centre. The tower's roof offers a view of the city of Saint John and its harbour. Carleton Martello Tower is one of the oldest buildings in the city and has been designated as a National Historic Site of Canada since 1930. It has been open to the public since 1963.
Kingston Mills, located approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of downtown Kingston, Ontario, is the southernmost of 24 lockstations in the Rideau Canal system, a National Historic Site and World Heritage Site managed and operated by Parks Canada.
The Royal Military College of Canada Museum, established in 1962, is located in a Martello tower known as Fort Frederick on the campus of the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, and is operated by the college. Until 2016 the museum had regular hours from the last weekend in June until Labour Day. Although admission was free, donations were accepted. Guided tours were offered in English and French. Genealogical research and archival records services were offered relating to college history or with inquires relating to ex-cadets when permitted by privacy regulations.
Fort Howe was a British fort built in Saint John, New Brunswick during the American Revolution. It was erected shortly after the American siege in 1777 to protect the city from further American raids. The 18th and 19th century British Army fortification stood at the mouth of the Saint John River where it empties into the Bay of Fundy. A replica blockhouse has been constructed approximately 250 metres to the northeast of the original structure.
Point Frederick is a 41-hectare (101-acre) peninsula in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The peninsula is located at the south end of the Rideau Canal where Lake Ontario empties into the St. Lawrence River. Point Frederick is bounded by the Cataraqui River to the west, the St. Lawrence River to the south, and Navy Bay to the east. The peninsula is occupied by the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). Several of the buildings located on Point Frederick and the site of the old naval dockyard are national historic sites. Fort Frederick, at the south end of the peninsula, is a feature of the Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site of Canada.
The Kingston Fortifications are a series of 19th century defensive works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, that are National Historic Sites of Canada and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The fortification system consists of five installations: