The Saint Helen Island Fort (french: Fort de l'Île Sainte-Hélène), a historic site on

Saint Helen's Island Saint Helen's Island (french: Île Sainte-Hélène) is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, in the territory of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It forms part of the Hochelaga Archipelago. It is situated immediately offshore from Old Mont ...

in the city of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, was constructed in the early 1820s as an arsenal in the defensive chain of forts built to protect

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from a threat of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

invasion. Although not heavily fortified, it served an important purpose as the central artillery depot for all forts west, and in the Richelieu River Valley, known as the Valley of the Forts. These included Fort Henry and

Fort Lennox Fort Lennox is a National Historic Sites of Canada occupying most of Île aux Noix, an island in the middle of the Richelieu River in the parish of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix, Quebec, near the Canada-U.S. border. The fort features restored ...

. The red stone used to build the Fort is a

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of ...

quarried on the island, which is situated in the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

between the island of Montreal and the south shore. The Levis Tower, contrary to popular belief, was not part of the fortifications on the island. It was built in the 1930s to house a water tower.

History

Built in 1820-1824 by the British, the fort served as arsenal and a storage facility for weapons and equipment. It was transformed into a military prison after the

rebellions of 1837 Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

. The complex was however ravaged by fire in 1848, only to be rebuilt in 1863-1864. After the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

left the fort for ruin, it became part of the City of Montreal. In the 1930s, it was restored as part of a job creation project during the Great Depression. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, it was used as an internment camp for

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

who were in the UK at the time of the declaration of war. During the summer months the Fort houses two reconstituted 18th century regiments, The Olde 78th Fraser Highlanders, and Les Compagnies Franches de la Marine.

Stewart Museum (1955-2021)

The Fort was also home to the Stewart Museum (french: Musée Stewart), a private non-profit institution and history museum founded in 1955 by philanthropist David M. Stewart to collect, store and display historical artifacts from Canada's colonial past, particularly that of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

. It had a unique collection of close to 27,000 artifacts, archival documents and rare books related to the European history of North America, from the establishment of New France up to the present day. The museum’s chief mission was to preserve and showcase these artifacts that bared witness to the voyages of exploration, scientific advances, feats of arms, beliefs and daily lives of our ancestors. The former museum, located in Parc Jean-Drapeau, had been housed in the arsenal of the fort on St. Helen’s Island, a 19th-century military building that is listed in the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec. Both the Fort and the museum had been open year-round, before its eventual closure. On February 16, 2021, after 66 years of operation, the museum permanently closed. Unable to survive financially due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, its collection will be relocated and merged with the McCord Museum in downtown Montreal. The Fort itself is closed to the public since February 2021.

References

External links

Parc Jean-DrapeauStewart Museum Website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort de l'Ile Sainte-Helene Buildings and structures completed in 1824 Museums in Montreal History museums in Quebec Military and war museums in Canada l'Ile Sainte-Helene Parc Jean-Drapeau