Point Frederick

Point Frederick was a strategic location for the defence of the Loyalist settlement at Cataraqui (Kingston). It was reserved in 1788 and named after Sir Frederick Haldimand, Governor of Quebec (1778-86). In 1790-91 a guardhouse and storehouse were built, and by 1792 a dockyard was in operation. During the War of 1812 this vital naval base was fortified, and on November 10, 1812, the Fort Frederick battery took part in repulsing an American naval squadron under Commodore Isaac Chauncey. The structure was one of four massive stone Martello towers built to strengthen Kingston's defences, and it was erected in 1846-47 during the Oregon boundary crisis between the United States and Britain. The dockyard was closed in 1852, and Fort Frederick was abandoned in 1870.

Ontario · Canada