Kingston, Ontario

Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin. Kingston is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because of the many historical buildings made from the local material which still stand. The municipality of Kingston is split by the Cataraqui River.

Kingston is roughly half way between Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec along the three major east-west transporation routes in Central Canada: the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Ontario Highway 401 (the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, which turns into Quebec Autoroute 20), and the Canadian National Railroad main line. Kingston also lies at the south end of the Rideau Canal, originally built to connect Lake Ontario with the Ottawa River in order to provide a safe transportation route far from the American border. Kingston's airport, Norman Rogers Airport (CYGK), has regularly-scheduled air service to Toronto.

Kingston is the site of two universities, the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University, as well as St. Lawrence College. One of the oldest radio stations in the world, CFRC broadcasts from Queens.

Canadian Forces Base Kingston (CFB Kingston) houses the Canadian Armed Forces' military communications training centre.

Canada's largest group of federal prisons, including Kingston Penitentiary, are located within the city or in the immediate area.

The city is famous for its fresh-water sailing (it hosted the sailing events for the 1976 Summer Olympics). CORK - Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston - is still held every August.

The city's thriving downtown is the site of several major festivals every summer. It has spawned several successful Canadian popular music personalities, including members of The Tragically Hip, Sarah Harmer, Hugh Dillon of The Headstones and David Usher (formerly of Moist).

Brief history of Kingston

The French originally settled upon a traditional Mississaugas First Nation site called Kateracoui (Cataroqui in the common transliteration which uses French pronounciation rules. It is pronounced CAT - AH - RAH - KWAY)in 1673 and established Fort Frontenac. The fort was captured and destroyed by the British at the end of the Seven Years' War in 1758. The town of Cataraqui, from the original native name, is now located immediately to the west of present-day Kingston. A receiving centre for fleeing refugees from the American Revolution, it became the primary community of south-eastern Upper Canada.

New settlement from the United Empire Loyalists (UEL) and Mohawks from the Six Nations in New York, lead by Molly Brant, formed a signficant part of an expanding population in the area at the end of the 18th century.

During the War of 1812, Kingston was the base for the Lake Ontario division of the Great Lakes British naval fleet and engaged in a vigorous arms race with the American fleet based at Sackett's Harbor, New York for control of Lake Ontario. After the war, Britain built Fort Henry and a series of distinctive Martello towers to guard the entrance to the Rideau Canal (the fort is still standing and is a popular tourist destination).

Kingston was one of the contenders for the capital of the united Canadas before Confederation, but after a brief stint as the capital from 1841 to 1844, it lost out to an alternating location of Montreal and Toronto, and then later to Ottawa where it has resided since. Kingston was, however, the home of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald and on June 13 1841 was the site of the first meeting of the Parliament of Canada.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Kingston was an important Great Lakes port and a center for shipbuilding and locomotive building, including the largest locomotive works in the British Empire (the Canadian Locomotive Company - later Fairbanks-Morse - closed in 1969), but most heavy industry has now left the city and employment is now primarily in the institutional, military, and service/retail sectors.