Kingston ON

Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is midway between Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal Quebec. It is also near the Thousand Islands, a tourist region to the east, and the Prince Edward County tourist region to the west. Kingston is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because it has many heritage buildings constructed using local limestone. 

Growing European exploration in the 17th century and the desire for the Europeans to establish a presence close to local Native occupants to control trade led to the founding of a French trading post and military fort at a site known as "Cataraqui" in 1673. The outpost, called Fort Cataraqui, and later Fort Frontenac, became a focus for settlement. After the Conquest of New France (1759–1763), the site of Kingston was relinquished to the British. Cataraqui was renamed Kingston after the British took possession of the fort, and Loyalists began settling the region in the 1780s.

Kingston was named the first capital of the United Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. While its time as a capital city was short, ending in 1844, the community has remained a necessary military installation. The city is a regional education and health care centre, home to two major universities, a large vocational college, and three major hospitals.

Kingston was the county seat of Frontenac County until 1998. Kingston is now a separate municipality from the County of Frontenac. Kingston is the largest municipality in southeastern Ontario and Ontario's 10th largest metropolitan area. John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister, lived in Kingston.

CFB Kingston

The Barriefield Military Camp, commonly called Camp Barriefield, was established as a military base at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 on the east bank of the Cataraqui River opposite the city of Kingston in the village of Barriefield. Located north of King's Highway 2, the military base and village were named in honour of the Royal Navy's Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Barrie, who served during the War of 1812.

In 1937, the base expanded to the south side of King's Highway 2, where the Vimy Barracks were opened, named in honour of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Vimy Barracks became home to the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, which relocated to the Barriefield Military Camp from the Borden Military Camp. The Signal Training Centre, later renamed the Royal Canadian School of Signals, was also established at the base.

The Barriefield Military Camp continued to expand as one of Canada's largest training bases when the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps established a training centre during the Second World War. Following the war, the original part of Barriefield Military Camp on the north side of King's Highway 2 was renamed the McNaughton Barracks in honour of the Canadian Army's General A.G.L. McNaughton, who served during the First and Second World Wars. From 1945 to 1969, the McNaughton Barracks hosted the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers School.

The base was renamed Canadian Forces Base Kingston (CFB Kingston) in 1966 in preparation for the February 1968 unification of the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force to form the Canadian Armed Forces. CFB Kingston was placed under Training Command and was responsible for providing training facilities and support services to its integral units and lodger units.

In September 1975, Training Command was disbanded, and the base was transferred to the Canadian Forces Training System. The Royal Military College of Canada, the National Defence College, the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College and the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics were some of the units supported by the base and under the authority of the commander of CFB Kingston. On September 1, 1988, the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters was established to serve as a staging base for the deployment of troops and materiel on active operations; in this role, it supported Operation Friction, which was Canada's support to the United Nations for the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

On March 30, 1995, responsibility for CFB Kingston was transferred to Land Force Command, now known as the Canadian Army (since August 2011).

On June 26, 1997, Air Command reorganized by disbanding the 10 Tactical Air Group and replacing it with the newly formed 1 Wing. The headquarters for 1 Wing were relocated to CFB Kingston; however, the unit's 6 tactical helicopter squadrons flying the CH-146 Griffon were spread out at Canadian Forces bases across the country.


Primarily a training base, CFB Kingston is home to the following lodger units:



Fort Henry National Historic Site is located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on Point Henry, a strategic, elevated point near the mouth of the Cataraqui River, which flows into the St. Lawrence River at the east end of Lake Ontario. The fort and the point on which it was built were named after Henry Hamilton, former Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec.

A fortification was constructed during the War of 1812 to protect the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard (the site of the present-day Royal Military College of Canada) on Point Frederick from a possible American attack during the war and to monitor maritime traffic on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. A much larger fort replaced this construction in the 1830s to protect the naval dockyard and protected the southern entrance to the Rideau Canal. The fort was restored in the 1930s and is a significant tourist attraction.

In the 1930s, under the leadership of Ronald L. Way, restorations took place as part of a government work program during the Great Depression. "Old Fort Henry" became a living museum with the introduction of the Fort Henry Guard and was opened on August 1, 1938. 

Fort Henry is administered by Parks Canada and operated by the St. Lawrence Parks Commission. Uniformed military interpreters known as the Fort Henry Guard conduct demonstrations of British military life and tours for visitors. The Fort Henry Guard has a long history in itself. The Guard, founded in 1938, has been integral to the Fort's ability to maintain the spirit of 1867 life and the preservation of the fort. The Guard is not exclusive to military interpreters but also includes domestic interpreters. Self-guided tours are also available. Other activities and demonstrations include historical reenactments of drills and battle tactics, the Garrison Parade, the Victorian School Room, and the Muster Parade, where young visitors are dressed in period uniforms and taught to march by a qualified member of the Guard. A Sunset Ceremony is held every Wednesday in July and August, and a complete program of historic drills, music, and artillery is presented. During evenings year-round, a tour company conducts tours of the fort that highlight the fort's supposedly haunted past.

Fort Henry has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada and, in 2007, was included in the designation of the Rideau Canal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On 30 June 1983, Canada Post issued 'Fort Henry, Ont.' in the "Forts Across Canada Series" (1983 and 1985). The stamps are based on the designs by Rolf P. Harder.


Fort Henry Guard, the Goat Boy, and women in period costume at Fort Henry 1957

Open Government License Ontario 



Source: Wikipedia