Adolphustown is a geographic area located in

Greater 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 ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. Adolphustown is now part of the town of

. 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 Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec and Governor General, governor ...

. 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 King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until ...

, seventh son of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. A number of

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

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 Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) 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 Ameri ...

settlers in 1792 and the oldest

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

building in Canada, was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

. It is open during the summer. The settlement serves as the eastern terminus of the ferry crossing to Glenora, Ontario. 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 thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

, 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 (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

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 prov ...

—took a more northern route through Napanee- Belleville.

Notable people

David Wright Allison David Wright Allison (1826 in Adolphustown, Ontario, Adolphustown, Upper Canada – May 15, 1906) was a Canadians, Canadian politician, farmer, manufacturer, and speculator. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal Party of ...

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

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, 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 Province of Queb ...

. * Willet Casey, 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, slave owner, soldier and political figure in Upper Canada. * Daniel Hagerman, lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada. * David Roblin, 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 British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

. * John Roblin, 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