Fort George (Ontario)

Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Army for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1812. The site of the fort has been a National Historic Site of Canada since 1921, and features a reconstruction of Fort George.

The British established Fort George in the 1790s to replace Fort Niagara. Many of its structures were demolished in May 1813, during the Battle of Fort George. After the battle, American forces occupied the fort for seven months before withdrawing in December 1813. Although the British regained the fort shortly afterwards, little effort was put into its reconstruction after they captured Fort Niagara the following week. The poor wartime design of Fort George led to its replacement by Fort Mississauga in the 1820s, although the grounds of Fort George saw some use by the military until the end of the First World War. During the late-1930s, the Niagara Parks Commission built a reconstruction of Fort George. The site was opened in 1940, and has been managed as a historic site and living museum by Parks Canada since 1969.

The fort has irregular-shaped earthwork with six bastions and a number of reconstructed buildings within it. The restored gunpowder magazine is the only building that dates to the original Fort George. The fort forms a part of Fort George National Historic Site, which also includes Navy Hall to the east of the fort. The historic site serves as a learning resource for the War of 1812, 19th-century military life in Canada, and the historic preservation movement during the 1930s.

Text adapted from “Fort George, Ontario” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort George (Ontario) ranks #2,525 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 26 mapped in Canada. Founded 1796, it is older than 13% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 556 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,282 times in the last 60 days, more than 70% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Buffalo, 43 km away. See how Canada compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗