During the War of 1812, fought between Great Britain and the United States from 1812 to 1815, blockhouses were quickly built at important Atlantic harbours, including three in St. Andrews at Joe’s Point, East Point, and West Point, to defend the gun batteries protecting the harbour and river primarily from enemy privateers. In Atlantic Canada, the war also brought increased economic prosperity through trade and the spoils of privateering. Much of St. Andrews’s built heritage has been preserved, including nearby and local national historic sites, and of all the blockhouses built in Atlantic Canada, only two survived: the St. Andrews Blockhouse, formerly West Point, and another built in 1750 at Fort Edward in Windsor, Nova Scotia.