The town of Niagara on the Lake grew up around a military fort at the mouth of the Niagara river. Since the Niagara river was considered a vital supply line it was considered important to protect it and the British interests in this region of Canada. Therefore a fort was established, Fort George. Over time, settlers came to live around the fort. Some to sell goods, others because of the protection it provided. Fort George was established to protect the mouth of the Niagara river from hostile ships from entering and causing trouble. There is evidence that the fort had several different configurations, during its various lives. At one time it went as far as the river itself.

  It is known that the fort served in colonial times and was very active in the war of 1812. It was seen as a vital point by both sides (at least according to local historians). The American's crossing of the river was staged to be far enough away from the fort that the men stationed there could not prevent their landing. It was then the American's plan to take the fort by land. This plan did not work and it was later leveled by cannon fire from Ft. Niagara and 3 war ships. The fort was rebuilt and served until the mid 1800's when it was no longer considered necessary. It then suffered from neglect.

   The current fort (which is a reconstruction of the one the Americans destroyed) is built on earthwork battlements in the formation of a star. The reason for this configuration is to catch enemy troops in a cross fire as they attempt to access the fort. Even right up against a wall, there is still at least one cannon that can fire on any spot. This made storming the fort very hard. Even once you get to the walls, you have to go down a moat before scaling the walls. Again, this is meant to slow down enemy troops. The sloped angles of the moat I think also make it harder to shoot cannon balls through the walls and to reduces their impact. The walls themselves are made out of pickets.

  Inside of the fort are several buildings, only one of which is an original, the powder store, which I think looks like a rominesque (sp?) church. The rest have been rebuilt based on photos and personal writings of people that saw the original fort. For more information on the area, please see my page on the Niagara region. I hope you enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the photos. Any comments, please E-mail me, .