Chatham Blockhouse 1794
Text from the plaque
On this site a blockhouse was constructed in 1794 by order of Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe. He planned to establish here a small naval arsenal which would form a link in the defences of Upper Canada's western frontier and also draw the Indian trade from Detroit. The post was garrisoned by a detachment of the Queen's Rangers, and two gunboats were built; but by 1797 it was abandoned. In 1798 the province's Administrator, Peter Russell, had the blockhouse moved to Sandwich to serve as the Western District's court-house and gaol.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent
In Chatham, in Tecumseh Park
just north of the 6th Street bridge
N 42 24.394 W 82 11.024
Recorded September 2011. Check current access before visiting.
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Where it stands
