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Birthplace of Bryan Adams but prouder of its handsome
limestone buildings, the town of KINGSTON , a
fast 260km east of Toronto along Hwy 401, is the largest and most
enticing of the communities along the northern shore of Lake Ontario.
It occupies a strategic position where the lake narrows into the
St Lawrence River, its potential first recognized by the French
who built a fortified fur-trading post here in 1673. It was not
a success. The commander, the Comte de Frontenac, managed to argue
with just about everybody and his deputy, Denonville, pursued
a risky side-line in kidnapping, inviting local Iroquois to the
fort and then forcibly shipping them to France as curiosities.
Nevertheless, the fort struggled on until 1758 when
it fell to a combined force of British, Americans and Iroquois,
a victory soon followed by an influx of United Empire Loyalists,
who promptly developed Kingston - as they renamed it - into a
major shipbuilding centre and naval base. The money rolled in
and the future looked rosy when the completion of the Rideau Canal
, linking Kingston with Ottawa in 1832, opened up its hinterland.
Indeed, Kingston became the capital of Canada in 1841 and although
it lost this distinction just three years later it remained the
region's most important town until the end of the nineteenth century.
In recent years, Kingston's fortunes have taken a turn for the
worse with the decline of the sea trade - and the under-use of
the St Lawrence Seaway - hitting it very hard. That said, the
local economy does benefit from the presence of Queen's
University , one of Canada's most prestigious academic
institutions, and of the Royal Military College
, the country's answer to Sandhurst and West Point.
Kingston's attractions include a cluster of especially
fine nineteenth-century limestone buildings - most notably City
Hall and the Cathedral of St George
- the first-rate Agnes Etherington Art Centre
gallery and Bellevue House , once the home of
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald. Add to this several delicious
B&Bs , a cluster of good restaurants
and scenic boat trips round the Thousand Islands
just offshore and you have a town that is well worth a couple
of days - maybe more.
