Fort George, Ontario

Shortly after the American declaration of war, work on the northeast bastion was undertaken by members of the York Militia.[6] When the fort was manned by British during the war, the fort was occupied by British Army regulars; members of the Canadian militia, including the Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men; and First Nation allies.[8]

Given the fort's location near the Canada–United States border, the fort became the centre of several military actions during the War of 1812. In October 1812, the fort was subject to bombardment with heated shots from American forces in Fort Niagara, as a diversion for the American assault on Queenston Heights.[9] The diversionary bombardment, in addition to another bombardment in November 1812 led to the destruction of several buildings in the fort.[9] After Brock's death at Queenston Heights, he was buried in a military funeral at Fort George's northeast bastion.[10]

Col. Winfield Scott at the gates of Fort George at the end of the Battle of Fort George, May 1813

The Battle of Fort George began on 25 May 1813, when Fort George was subjected to an artillery barrage and heated shots from Fort Niagara, and newly built and fortified shore batteries; resulting in the destruction of the log buildings within the fort.[11] Two days later, an American landing force of 2,300 troops disembarked in four waves approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Fort George, on the shoreline of Lake Ontario under the cover of cannonade fire.[11][12] By the third landing wave Brigadier General John Vincent realized that his force of 560 men were at risk of being outflanked, and trapped at Fort George; resulting in him giving the order to destroy the fort's ammunition, to spike its guns, and to retreat and evacuate the fort.[11][12] First Nations warriors under John Norton covered the British retreat, although the Americans made no real effort to pursue them.[13]

The Americans advanced cautiously towards the fort, wanting to avoid any potential casualties against a potentially sabotaged gunpowder magazine; which occurred at the conclusion of the Battle of York.[13] American forces were able to prevent the destruction of a substantial portion of what remained of the fort, having arrived quickly enough for a U.S. artillery captain to extinguish one of the magazine fuses.[14]

Although the British evacuated the fort on 7 June, American forces did not formally occupy the fort until 9 June.[15] Once the Americans occupied the fort, they immediately began work on new fieldworks, refortifying the bastions of the fort, and extending the northwest bastion;[9][15] with the fort serving as the U.S. Army of the Center's headquarters.[16] Although American forces used some parts of the fort's old fieldwork, the fort was made substantially smaller, into a more defensible pentagonal-shape fort.[15] In addition to rebuilding the earthwork ramparts, they also repaired the palisades, and added entrenchments near the northeast bastion and towards the river.[15] However, they did not erect any other permanent structures in the fort, with its forces instead garrisoning in small outlying outposts around the fort.[9]

The fort was largely modified to defend the American encampment adjacent to the fort from an attack from inland.[15] The Americans intended to use the encampment as a staging ground for an invasion further into the Niagara peninsula.[17] During its seven-month occupation of the fort, the American military initially brought more soldiers to the fort in preparation for their advance, and raised a local volunteer corps, making it the only military unit to be raised within the fort during the war.[10]

Map of Fort George and the surrounding area during the War of 1812. Fort Niagara and where most of the Battle of Fort George took place are marked on the map to the north.[note 3]

Although the fort was intended to act as a bridgehead for an American invasion of the peninsula, the American military was forced to reconsider its invasion plans after facing several setbacks; including disease, increased desertion rates, continued risk of ambush outside the confines of the encampment, and a British advance towards the area after the battles at Stoney Creek, and Beaver Dams.[17][19] Plans to advance further inland were eventually scrapped, and American forces commenced a slow withdrawal from the fort; with only 60 soldiers remaining in Fort George by December 1813.[16] Upon receiving intelligence that 1,500 British and 700 First Nations warriors were advancing onto the fort, the American garrison was ordered to withdraw, and to raze the fort and the adjacent settlement.[16] The American garrison left the fort on 11 December after spiking the fort's guns and razing the settlement; although they did not destroy what remained of the fort.[19][20]

British forces arrived at the fort shortly after the Americans departure from the town, finding the only remaining buildings in the fort being the gunpowder magazine, and some temporary magazines erected by the Americans.[15] Shortly after reoccupying the fort, the British began working on building a temporary barracks, officers' quarters, guardhouse, and another magazine.[15] Nine days after reoccupying the fort, British forces conducted an assault that led to the capture of Fort Niagara, and the razing of communities on the American side of the river in retaliation for the burning of Niagara.[21][note 3] As Fort Niagara remained occupied by the British for the remainder of the war, British military focus shifted towards the more strategically placed Fort Niagara; with no further investments made in maintaining Fort George.[15]

In July 1814, American forces under Winfield Scott attempted to seize forts George and Niagara.[10][14] However, Scott was forced to withdraw after realizing the naval support he was promised would not materialize.[10]

Depiction of Fort Mississauga, c. 1860s. Built in the 1820s, the construction of Fort Mississauga was prompted by inadequacies demonstrated by Fort George during the war.

In 1817, American president James Monroe visited the Canadian side of the Niagara River during a goodwill trip, and was entertained by British officers at the fort.[10] However, Fort George's inability to guard the mouth of the Niagara River was criticized by military analysts after the war, leading to the construction of Fort Mississauga near the mouth of the river in the 1820s.[4] During the same period, work on Butler's Barracks was undertaken southwest of the fort, and out of range of the batteries on the American side of the river.[10]

The equipment within the fort was later auctioned away in 1821, and its palisades relocated to other sites in the next year.[22] By 1825, the body of Isaac Brock was disinterred from the northeast bastion, and placed at Brock's Monument in Queenston.[22] In 1828, the headquarters of British Army centre division was formally moved to York, with the fort reportedly only made up of a few "wooden decaying barracks".[15] In 1839, Navy Hall was converted into a barracks for the British garrison, with the fort's former barracks being converted to a stables.[10]

During the 1860s, the Canadian government took control of the British military complex in the area, which included Fort George, Fort Mississauga, Butler's Barracks, and the training commons; although the ruins of Fort George saw little use from the Canadian militia.[5] The ruins of the fort was intermittently leased to a private citizen, who acted as a custodian-tenant of the property.[23] During this period, several buildings were converted for other uses; with the officers' quarters incorporated into a farmhouse, the stone gunpowder magazine used for storing hay, and the property itself used as a grazing field for cattle.[23] By the 1880s the bastions and the gunpowder magazine were in poor condition, portions of the fort were being used as farmland, with only the officers' quarters occupied by a custodian.[24]

The fort's gunpowder magazine in 1908. By the 20th century, the magazine was the only structure from the original fort still standing.

In 1882, the Wright family was granted a lease from the Department of Militia and Defence;[23] which led to the opening of a golf club in the area, with the golf course occupying portions of the ruins.[25] The golf course was transformed into an eighteen-hole course in 1895, further expanding into the ruins in 1895.[25] The fort's ruins were the subject of controversy when the golf club proposed clearing the ruins of the fort. As the golf club's membership was predominantly made up of American residents summering in the area, the proposal was subject to criticism from local and Toronto-based newspapers that published nationalistic editorials critical of the proposal; describing it as a "desecration of sacred heroic sites as [selling out] to Sabbath-breaking Americans".[25] Facing stiff criticism, the golf club eventually abandoned their plans for the fort ruins.[25] The golf club ceased operations shortly before the First World War.[25]

During the First World War, the Canadian military built a military hospital on the site of the fort's esplanade, with a mess, kitchen, and guardhouse and lands adjacent to the fort; collectively known as Camp Niagara.[25] The buildings remained in use by the military until the end of the war.[25]

A stone cairn on the site of the fort, c. 1930. A cairn was placed on the site shortly after the site was declared a National Historic Site of Canada.

On 21 May 1921, the site was named as a National Historic Site of Canada, with a stone cairn placed on the site.[25][26] During the mid-1930s, the Department of National Defence accepted an offer from the Niagara Parks Commission, where the commission would reconstruct and restore Fort George, Fort Mississauga, and the Navy Hall, in return for a 99-year lease on all three properties for C$1 per year; although the department reserved the right to reclaim the properties after providing six-months notice.[25]

The commission began to restore the Navy Hall in August 1937, which was followed by restoration efforts to the fort's gunpowder magazine.[27] However, the fort's officers' quarters were torn down and relocated to another part of the fort; while the buildings erected during the First World War were relocated outside the fort.[27] During this period, bulldozers were also used to push the fort's earthen ramparts into place.[27] The surrounding area was also cleared of overgrowth, resulting from the site's intermittent abandonment.[27] In 1939, reconstruction of the fort's former buildings, in addition to a visitor centre outside of the fort took place.[27] White pine was imported from northern Ontario in order to facilitate the building's construction.[27] The fort reconstruction was completed in 1939 with the installation of its wooden gates, although its visitor centre remained under construction for several months after.[27] Reconstruction and restoration efforts were largely guided by the fort's original 1799 designs; and were largely completed through make-work programs, with the head of the Niagara Parks Commission, Thomas McQuesten, also serving as the provincial Minister of Public Works.[27] Wood used during the reconstruction effort were pressurized with creosote for longevity, with the material lasting until 2010.[27]

Fort George was included in the 1939 royal tour of Canada, although the royal cavalcade only passed by the fort, having never stepped inside it.[27] The Niagara Capital Commission had initially planned a "grand opening" of the site; although the outbreak of the Second World War resulted in these proposals being shelved, deemed "inappropriate" in the midst of a war.[27] Fort George was opened to the public on 1 July 1940; although its "official opening and dedication" did not occur until June 1950, with a flypast provided by the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the United States Air Force.[27] The Niagara Parks Commission operated the fort as a museum, exhibiting military artifacts in the reconstructed blockhouses.[27]

In 1969, the lease with the commission was prematurely ended when the property was transferred from the Department of National Defence to Parks Canada.[28] In 1987, a citizen cooperating association, the Friends of Fort George, was formed.[29] From 2009 to 2010, several archaeological digs were conducted to ascertain the landscape of the fort, as well as excavate artifacts left behind by soldiers during the war.[30]

The fort's single-storey guardhouse, rebuilt during the late 1930s.

Although the fort was modified several times in the early 19th century, the 1937–39 reconstruction configured the layout of the fort to resemble its 1799 configurations.[25] However, as a serious archaeological survey was not conducted prior to its reconstruction, several differences exist between the reconstruction and the original 1799 fort;[25] most notably differences with the rampart's placement and a difference in the blockhouses' appearances.[27][29] Additionally, as the bulldozers were used to reshape the fort's earthworks, the fort's interior terrain was significantly flattened, resulting in a flatter topography when compared the original fort.[28]

The gunpowder magazine is the only original building in the fort. Reconstructed buildings in the fort include the four blockhouses, a single storey officers' kitchen, a single-storey rectangular officers' quarters built in a Colonial Revival-style, and a rectangular guardhouse with a gabled roof clad in cedar shakes.[32][33][34] All the reconstructed buildings are loose interpretation of the original structures, with the designs based on the architect's interpretation of a frontier fort.[32][33][34] As a result, the historical designation is confined to the footprint of the buildings.[32][33][34] The fort's artificer's and blacksmith shop, was also constructed during the 1930s reconstruction of the fort, although the building itself is not based on any historical antecedent.[35] The building is used as a modern workshop, although it was designed in the same aesthetic as the other reconstructed buildings.[35]

There are three blockhouses inside the fort's palisades

The fort features three blockhouses inside the fort's palisades, all of which were completed in 1939.[36][37][38] All three blockhouses are two-storey log structures, whose second storey overhangs from the first. They all also feature a low pitched roof, clad in cedar shakes.[36][37][38] However, the present blockhouses found inside the palisades were not designed after the original blockhouses of Fort George, but instead were designed based on existing blockhouses at Fort York.[29]

The blockhouses were designed with an exposed log exterior, based on the architect's interpretation of a rugged "frontier" aesthetic, although clapboards were added onto the blockhouses to give them a more refined appearance.[36] Blockhouse 1 and 3 are square-shaped whereas Blockhouse 2 is a large, rectangular-shaped blockhouse.[36][37] As opposed to the other blockhouses, Blockhouse 3 is accessed through an exterior staircase that leads to its second storey access point.[38] Blockhouse 3 also houses storage rooms, change rooms, lunch rooms, and washrooms for Parks Canada staff.[39]

The octagonal blockhouse at the southern redan of the fort's earthworks

In addition to the three blockhouses inside the palisades, there is also another blockhouse located on the palisades of the fort, near the south redan; also completed during the fort's reconstruction.[40] As with the other blockhouses it is two storeys tall and features an overhanging second storey; although unlike the other blockhouses, it takes the shape of an octagon.[40] The only access point to the octagonal blockhouse is through a tunnel from inside the fort.[40] As with the other blockhouses, the aesthetic of the reconstructed octagonal blockhouse was based on the ones from Fort York.[40]

The fort's gunpowder magazine is the only structure in the fort that dates back to the fort's original construction in 1796. In addition to being the fort's oldest building, the magazine is also one of Niagara-on-the-Lake's oldest buildings.[41][42] Although the fort was built on elevated ground above Navy Hall, the gunpowder magazine was built over a depression of a ravine; making the roof the only part of the building visible from Fort Niagara.[43] A drainage system was required to drain the moisture collected from the ravine shortly after the magazine's completion, in order to preventing the floor boards from rotting.[44] Until the fort's gunpowder magazine was completed, the original Navy Hall was briefly used as an ammunition store after the British transferred their garrison from Fort Niagara to Fort George.[43] Shortly after the gunpowder magazine's was completed, defensive earthworks were created to the northeast of the magazine in an effort to further fortify it.[43]

The gunpowder magazine exterior walls are made of 2.4-metre-thick (8 ft) limestone

The walls are made of 2.4-metre-thick (8 ft) limestone likely quarried from nearby Queenston.[43] The interior was built with bricks, with a 0.91-metre-thick (3 ft) brick arch to reinforce its roof.[43] The small windows and doors are sheathed in copper, preventing any accidental ignition of the gunpowder from sparks.[43] The double-layered wooden floors were also pegged to the ground as opposed to nailed.[43] In spite of these features however, the building itself was not shell-proof, and may be liable to fires as a result of accidents or enemy action.[3]

Although the gunpowder magazine was situated in the portion of the fort that was abandoned by Isaac Brock, it remained in use.[43] During the Battle of Queenston Heights, the metal covering on the magazine's roof was set ablaze, although the Garrison quickly removed the metal coverings and extinguished the fire.[44] Although the fort was largely abandoned by the British in the 1820s in favour of Fort Mississauga, the magazine remained in use by Fort Mississauga's garrison until the 1830s.[44] During the mid-19th century, the building was occasionally occupied by squatters.[44]

The building could store 300 barrels of gunpowder, a second stone and brick gunpowder magazine was built, though that magazine was abandoned and reported "in ruins" by 1814.[43]

Timber pickets atop the fort's earthworks

The ramparts of the fort were made up of irregular earthworks consisting of six bastions, each framed with timber and connected by a line of picketing.[45] The earthworks were bulldozed into place during the 1930s.[27] As opposed to the present earthworks, which were largely bulldozed in place, the original fort's earthworks were built using wooden cribs over the ravine gully, and using inundated clay to stabilize the soil.[27] Because bulldozers were used for the earthworks reconstruction, only the area around the two northern bastions have a resemblance with the original fort's configuration.[27]

Because the fort was designed as a supply depot and not a true defensive fortification, the earthwork's bastions were poorly positioned, with a lack of interlocking lines of fire creating areas of vulnerability at certain parts of the ramparts.[3] Attempts to rectify these deficiencies were made prior to the War of 1812, when Isaac Brock instructed that the fort's size be reduced, by abandoning the southern ramparts and erecting palisades at the new defensive line.[6] Further modifications made to the fort's original ramparts during the Americans occupation of the fort, transforming it into a smaller, more defensible pentagonal fort.[15] These modifications are not reflected in the reconstructed Fort George, with the restoration process restoring the fort to its 1799 configuration; although the archaeological remains of the American dug entrenchments next to the fort are still visible.[46]

In addition to the fort, Fort George National Historic Site also contains Navy Hall, a reconstructed historical building below the eastern ramparts of the fort at the shoreline of the Niagara River.[47] The original Navy Hall predates the construction of the original Fort George, with the building having served as the barracks for the Provincial Marine, and the larger area being used as a shipyard and supply depot for Fort Niagara.[48] During the late 1780s and early 1790s, the building was intermittently used by the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe as a private residence.[49] Simcoe's offices were made into an officers' mess for soldiers in Fort George; while the rest of the building was used as storage for the Provincial Marines.[49] An American artillery barrage in November 1812 led to the destruction of the original Navy Hall.[50]

Navy Hall was reconstructed on its original location in 1937

The British rebuilt Navy Hall, and a new wharf shortly after the end of the war; albeit one that was slightly smaller.[51] By 1840, Navy Hall was modified to fit a barracks; and the area surrounded with a guardhouse, customs house, ferry house, and taverns.[49] However, these buildings were relegated to storage use by the 1850s.[49] In an effort accommodate the construction of the Erie and Niagara Railway Navy Hall was moved closer to the fort ruins, and was later converted for use as a stable[50] During the First World War, the building was partially renovated after it was converted into a laboratory for the Canadian Medical Corps.[50] However, it was abandoned again after the war, resulting in its deterioration. After the Erie and Niagara Railway line closed, process of reconstruct the building at its original location was undertaken.[50] A new stone foundation was used, with the building's facade largely encased in stone; while the lumber was salvaged from an old barn.[50]

In 1969, Navy Hall was also designated a National Historic Site of Canada, although it remains associated with the Fort George National Historic Site.[47] As with the other reconstructed buildings in Fort George, Navy Hall's historical designation is restricted to the building's footprint.[52] Like the other reconstructed buildings at the historic site, Navy Hall has not been evaluated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for possible national significance, and is considered a "level 2 cultural resource" for the historic site.[31]