Timeline of Kingston, Ontario history

The timeline of Kingston history shows the significant events in the history of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Aboriginal period

• About 500 CE to 1600s – The First Nations settlements

17th century

• 1673 – Established as Fort Cataraqui; later renamed Fort Frontenac
• 1688 – The Iroquois siege, the French destroyed the fort, but rebuilt it later

"View of Frontenac or Cataracoui in 1759". Watercolour map depicting Fort Frontenac

A Southeast View of Cataraqui, by James Peachey, August 1785

18th century

• 1758 – The British destroyed the fort during the Battle of Fort Frontenac (Seven Years’ War) and its ruins remained abandoned
• 1783 – The British took possession and partially reconstructed the fort
• 1783 – The Crawford Purchase, an agreement with the Mississaugas, to purchase land east of the Bay of Quinte, ^{[1] [2]} to lay out a settlement for displaced British colonists, or Loyalists, who were fleeing north because of the American Revolutionary War ^[3]
• 1784 – Influx of Loyalist settlers
• 1787 – Cataraqui was referred to as “the King’s Town” in honour of King George III
• 1788 – The name was abbreviated to “Kingston” ^[4]
• 1792 – The first high school (grammar school) of Ontario was established (evolved into Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute)

Line of defence: three Martello towers (Shoal Tower, Fort Frederick, Cathcart Tower). A fourth tower, Murney Tower, is southwest of this location

Kingston City Hall and the Market Battery, 1857

Theological Hall at Queen's University

19th century

• 1812 – The first Fort Henry was built to protect the dockyards in Navy Bay ^[5]
• 1812, November – American naval forces attacked the British sloop Royal George in Kingston harbour but the ship took refuge in the harbour and the American forces withdrew ^[6]
• 1813 – Fort Henry was replaced by a more extensive fort on Point Henry ^[7] (Kingston population was 2,250 ^[8] )
• 1832–1836 – The construction of Fort Henry’s limestone citadel ^[9]
• 1832 – Rideau Canal completion
• 1835 – Kingston Penitentiary, Canada’s first large federal penitentiary, was established (operated until 2013)
• 1838 – Kingston incorporated as town
• 1840, April 18 – a dock fire, fanned by high winds, resulted in explosion and spread of the fire throughout the city’s downtown area, destroying a large number of buildings, including the old city hall ^{[10] [11] [12]}
• 1840s and later – “the Limestone Revolution” (to prevent similar incidents from occurring in future), Kingston’s nickname became “The Limestone City” since then
• 1840s – Construction of several defensive fortifications because of tensions with the United States (among them are Fort Henry, four Martello towers – Cathcart Tower, Shoal Tower, Murney Tower, and Fort Frederick – and the Market Battery) ^[13]
• 1841–1844 – Kingston served as the first capital of the united Canadas (the capital then was moved to Montreal) ^[14]
• 1841, June 13 – The first meeting of the Parliament of the Province of Canada was held on the site of what is now Kingston General Hospital
• 1842 – Queen’s University (originally Queen's College) first held classes ^[15]
• 1844 – The City Hall completed ^[16]
• 1846 – Kingston incorporated as city (with a population of 6,123)
• 1847 – North American typhus epidemic; Hotel Dieu and Kingston General Hospital cared for victims ^[17]
• 1856 – The Grand Trunk Railway reached Kingston
• 1876 – The Royal Military College of Canada was founded
• 1881 – A telephone system began operation; at that time the population was 14,091
• 1888 – Electricity reached Kingston

Market Square, early 20th century

Fort Henry Guard practice drill, Fort Henry

20th century

• 1914 – Camp Barriefield, now McNaughton Barracks, was constructed
• 1914–1917 – Fort Henry served as an internment camp for “enemy aliens”
• 1936 – Fort Henry restoration, now part of a World Heritage Site ^[5]
• 1937 – Vimy Barracks was established for the Royal Canadian School of Signals
• 1939–1943 – Fort Henry was again an internment camp (Camp 31) ^[18]
• 1959 – The Royal Military College of Canada became the first military college in the Commonwealth with the right to confer University degrees ^[19]
• 1995 – Kingston General Hospital was designated a National Historic Site of Canada because it is “the oldest public hospital in Canada still in operation with most of its buildings intact” ^[20]
• 1998 – Amalgamation with Kingston and Pittsburgh Townships

21st century

• 2024 – The La Salle Causeway, including a bascule lift bridge, was demolished (temporarily replaced by a modular bridge) ^{[21] [22]}

Notes

1. Osborne 2011, pp. 19–21
2. "The Crawford Purchase". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
3. Osborne 2011, p. 18
4. Armstrong 1973, p. 67.
5. "Fort Henry Historical Plaque". ontarioplaques.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017.
6. "The Escape of the Royal George". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
7. Mika 1987, p. 68.
8. Boyle, Terry (May 30, 2011). Hidden Ontario: Secrets from Ontario's Past. Dundurn. ISBN   9781459700291. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018.
9. Ontario Heritage Plaque – Fort Henry Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 2, 2015
10. "Fire and gunpowder explosions demolished Kingston's waterfront". Kingston Whig-Standard. February 8, 2010. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
11. Kingston Public Market History Archived June 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 8, 2015
12. Osborne 2011, p. 99
13. "Point Frederick Buildings". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
14. "Legislature of the Province of Canada 1841–1844". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
15. "Queen's University". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
16. "Kingston City Hall Historical Plaque". ontarioplaques.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017.
17. "Hotel Dieu and the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph – STONES". stoneskingston.ca. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017.
18. "Internment Camps in Canada during the First and Second World Wars". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
19. "The Royal Military College of Canada". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
20. "Kingston General Hospital National Historic Site of Canada". Parks Canada. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
21. Taekema, Dan (July 19, 2024). "Temporary bridge for Kingston's LaSalle Causeway expected by September". CBC News. Archived from the original on October 3, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
22. Taekema, Dan (October 2, 2024). "Engineer's report finds removal of supports caused Kingston causeway bridge to buckle". CBC News.

Bibliography

• Adams, Nick.Iroquois Settlement at Fort Frontenac in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries Archived September 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine . Ontario Archaeology, No. 46: 4–20. 1986.
• Armstrong, Alvin. Buckskin to Broadloom – Kingston Grows Up. Kingston Whig-Standard, 1973. No ISBN.
• Mika, Nick and Helma et al. Kingston, Historic City. Belleville: Mika Publishing Co., 1987. ISBN   0-921341-06-7.
• Mika, Nick and Helma. Kingston Heritage, Buildings, Monuments, Plaques Belleville: Mika Publishing Co., 1983, 160 pages.
• Osborne, Brian S. and Donald Swainson. Kingston, Building on the Past for the Future. Quarry Heritage Books, 2011. ISBN   1-55082-351-5
• Roy, James. Kingston: The King's Town. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1952.
• Turner, Larry. "The Founding of Kingston, Ontario" Archived July 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine . The Loyalist Gazette, Volume XXII, No. 1. Retrieved 2015-01-14
• Preston, Richard. Kingston Before the War of 1812: A Collection of Documents Archived December 4, 2021, at the Wayback Machine . Toronto: Champlain Society Publications, 1959.
• The Heritage Ambassadors of Kingston