Adolphustown is a geographic area located in Greater Napanee,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, on the Adolphus Reach of the

Bay of Quinte The Bay of Quinte () is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of ...

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. Adolphustown is now part of the town of Greater Napanee. The rural character of the Adolphustown region remains largely undisturbed today and the area, with its picturesque lakefront location, remains popular for the cultivation of apples and strawberries.

History

Adolphustown was founded in 1784 by

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...

. The original Loyalist Landing site is now the U.E.L. Heritage Centre & Park, a museum, public park, and family campground. The settlement was named for

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of the British king George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 18 ...

, seventh son of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. A number of

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

s settled in this area in 1784 and held their first Monthly Meetings in Canada here. The Old Hay Bay Church, built by

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...

settlers in 1792 and the oldest

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

building in Canada, was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

. It is open during the summer. Glenora Ferry Hwy33 near Picton Ontario Canada

The settlement serves as the eastern terminus of the ferry crossing to

Glenora, Ontario Glenora is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, on the southern shore of the Bay of Quinte at . The Bay of Quinte is a long narrow inlet on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Glenora is a rural area located directly east of Picton, On ...

. The ferry is free for vehicles and pedestrians and links the western and eastern halves of one of the oldest colonial roads in the province, the Loyalist Parkway (Ontario Highway 33), at the point where the parkway is interrupted by the Bay of Quinte. This crossing appears to have been in use at least as early as 1802, when an extension of Asa Danforth Jr.'s pioneering

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, from eastern Toronto through what is now Trenton, first reached the Bay of Quinte at Stone Mills (Glenora). By 1869, Adolphustown was a station on the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

with a population of 100 in the Township of Adolphustown, County of Lennox and shore of Bay of Quinte. The principal trade was in grain stock and cordwood. Land averaged from $30 to $40 per acre.The province of Ontario gazetteer and directory
H. McEvoy Editor and Compiler, Toronto : Robertson & Cook, Publishers, 1869. page 19 Other development—such as the 1817 York Road, the 1856 Grand Trunk Railway, and 1964 segment of

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...

—took a more northern route through

Napanee Greater Napanee is a town in Eastern Ontario, southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston, Ontario, Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Nap ...

- Belleville.

Notable people

* David Wright Allison, politician, farmer, manufacturer and speculator. * Bob Casey, professional baseball player. * Samuel Casey, farmer and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. *

Willet Casey Willet Casey (February 14, 1762 – April 7, 1848) was a farmer and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Rhode Island in 1762. Casey was a Quaker and was viewed with hostility because he would not join in the combat. His father Sam ...

, farmer and political figure in Upper Canada. * James Cotter, farmer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada. * Philip Dorland, farmer and political figure in Upper Canada. * Thomas Dorland, farmer, soldier and political figure in Upper Canada. * Daniel Hagerman, lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada. *

David Roblin David Roblin (April 19, 1812–March 1, 1863) was a lumber merchant and political figure in Canada West. He was born in Adolphustown Township in Upper Canada in 1812, the son of John Roblin. He settled in Richmond Township and opened a general ...

, lumber merchant and political figure in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

. *

John Roblin John Roblin (May 2, 1774 – February 28, 1813) was a farmer and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Smiths Clove, Orange County, New York in 1774. He was the son of Philip Roblin, a United Empire Loyalist, and Elizabeth Miller. A ...

, farmer and political figure in Upper Canada. * Henry Ruttan, businessman, inventor and political figure in Upper Canada. * Peter Van Alstine, farmer, soldier and political figure in Upper Canada.

References

{{authority control Former township municipalities in Ontario Populated places on Lake Ontario in Canada Communities in Lennox and Addington County

History

Notable people

See also

References