Adolphustown is a geographic area located in Greater Napanee, Ontario, Canada, on the Adolphus Reach of the Bay of Quinte in Lake Ontario. 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
editAdolphustown was founded in 1784 by United Empire Loyalists. The original Loyalist Landing site is now the 74-acre (300,000 m2) U.E.L. Heritage Centre & Park, a museum, public park, and family campground.
The settlement was named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, seventh son of King George III. A number of Quakers 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 settlers in 1792 and the oldest Methodist building in Canada, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[1][2] 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, 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 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.[3]
Other development—such as the 1817 York Road, the 1856 Grand Trunk Railway[contradictory], and 1964 segment of Highway 401—took a more northern route through Napanee-Belleville.
Notable people
edit- David Wright Allison, politician, farmer, manufacturer and speculator.
- Bob Casey, professional baseball player.
- Samuel Casey, farmer and political figure in Upper Canada.
- 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.
- 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.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Old Hay Bay Church[permanent dead link], Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
- ^ Old Hay Bay Church. Canadian Register of Historic Places.
- ^ The province of Ontario gazetteer and directory. H. McEvoy Editor and Compiler, Toronto : Robertson & Cook, Publishers, 1869. page 19