Chatham Blockhouse 1794

Photos by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted September, 2011

Plaque Location

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent
In Chatham, in Tecumseh Park
just north of the 6th Street bridge

Coordinates: N 42 24.394 W 82 11.024

Plaque Text

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.

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The Military

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