In 1815, the Royal Navy began building a depot on the present site of Port Maitland. Though intended in the event of war to accommodate three frigates and 1,000 men, the base actually supported only the four schooners that then made up the British naval force on Lake Erie. The Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817) between Britain and the United States severely limited naval armament on the Great Lakes, and the depot was thereafter staffed by small detachments of soldiers. The wharf and four buildings were washed away in a storm in 1827, and the remaining buildings had largely fallen into ruin by 1834, when the establishment was abandoned.

Location

In Esplanade Park, Regional Road 11, Port Maitland

Themes

• Buildings and structures
• Politics and law
• War and conflict