Toronto Skyline from Fort Mississauga Tunnel by
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The Niagara River has three well-known forts from the war of 1812, each with an organized interpretive program and on-site staff. Fort Erie guards the mouth of the river on the Canadian side at Lake Erie. At the other end of the river, Fort George and Fort Niagara can be found on the Canadian and American sides, respectively.
However, hidden in the middle of a golf course in Niagara-on-the-Lake, another fort can be found. Fort Mississauga is smaller, vacant and largely forgotten.
In 1804, a lighthouse was erected at Mississauga Point in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This was the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes, but it was dismantled in 1814 to make way for Fort Mississauga. Stone from the lighthouse was incorporated into the foundation that the fort was built upon, and stone for the walls was salvaged from rubble left after retreating United States forces burned the nearby town of Newark in December, 1813. The British Army was stationed at the fort until 1855, followed by the Canadian Army, which used it as summer training ground beginning in the 1870s.
Fort Mississauga - 01 by
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Fort Mississauga - 02 by
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Fort Mississauga - 04 by
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Fort Mississauga - 03 by
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Fort Mississauga - 09 by
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Fort Mississauga - 10 by
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Fort Mississauga - 11 by
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Fort Mississauga - 12 by
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