KINGSTON, Canada, city, port of entry, capital of Frontenac County, in the province of Ontario. Situated at the mouth of the Cataraqui River and at the outflow of the Saint Lawrence from Lake Ontario. At Kingston the Rideau Canal from the Ottawa River at Ottawa City connects with the Saint Law rence River and the system of the Great Lakes.
It is on the main line of the Grand Trunk Railway, between Montreal and Toronto, and is connected with the Canadian Pacific Railway, east, west and north, by means of the Kingston and Pembroke Railway. During the season of navigation, the Richelieu and Ontario and other lines of steamers connect it with Montreal and other points on the Saint Lawrence River, and with Rochester, Toronto, Bay of Quinte and intermediate points, in the West. Kingston is midway between Montreal and Toronto, being 170 miles to the west of the former, and 163 miles to the east of the latter.
The harbor, sheltered from Lake Ontario by Amherst, Simcoe and Wolfe islands, is con sidered one of the best on the lake. The for tifications of Kingston are third in importance in Canada, those of Quebec and Halifax taking precedence.
Kingston was for many years the most im portant commercial and shipping centre in Upper Canada. There the first mill was built in 1784, the first regular newspaper established in 1810; in the neighborhood the first steam boat was built in 1816, and others soon fol lowed.
The city has large grain elevators and is an important point for the transshipment of grain coming down from the western lakes. Some of the chief manufactures of the city are loco motives, cotton, hosiery, leather, flour and cereals, boats and shipbuilding.
The leading educational institutions are Queen's University (q.v.), with which is incorporated the Kingston School of Mines; the Royal Military College, the Dairy School, Regiopolis College, the Kingston Business Col lege and the Collegiate Institute. The city has a General Hospital, the Hotel Dieu Hospital, an Orphans' Home and House of Providence, while just outside the city limits are the Provin cial Penitentiary and Rockwood Hospital for the Insane. The Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals and the city, county and university buildings are handsome stone edifices, adding to the attractions of the city, which has electric and gas lighting, waterworks and street railways. A bronze statue of Sir John A. Macdonald stands at the main entrance to the city park, while the Sir George A. Kirk patrick memorial fountain faces the park in front of the county buildings.
In July 1673, the site of Kingston was first visited by Frontenac, the French governor of Canada, accompanied by La Salle. There the
Indians were assembled for a conference, and during his stay the governor erected a fort built of wood and surrounded by palisades. Thus originated Fort Frontenac at Cataraqui, the first fort on the lower lakes west of Montreal. In 1675, La Salle obtained from Louis XIV a grant of Fort Frontenac and the seigniory of Cataraqui, with the adjoining islands, and two years later he partially completed a new stone fort replacing the wooden one. The fort and the mainland subsequently reverted to the French Crown, but a large part of Wolfe Island is still held by titles originally derived from La Salle. Owing to Indian incursions Fort Frontenac was abandoned and partly destroyed in 1689. In 1695, however, during Frontenac's second term as governor, the fort was rebuilt, and, until the time of the English conquest, was maintained as one of the chief French centres of authority, communication and trade for the West. From there, in 1756, Montcalm launched his successful attack upon the British post of Oswego. But in 1758 Brad street captured and partly destroyed Fort Frontenac.
After the British conquest of Canada, Cataraqui was practically deserted until the ar rival of the Loyalist refugees during the Revo lutionary War. When Carleton Island was ceded to the United States by the treaty of 1783, Cataraqui was again occupied British government as a military and station; and in 1784 it was made the centre of the Loyalist settlements in the West, the place being renamed Kingston in honor of George III. Kingston was the chief naval and mili tary post in Upper Canada during the War of 1812-15. A new fort was constructed on Point Henry, in 1815-16, which was rebuilt in its present form in 1832-36, the advance battery being added in 1842. The four martello towers which, with the fort on Point Frederic, com plete the present fortifications of the city, were built between 1846 and 1848. After the con vention of 1818, by which the United States and Great Britain agreed not to maintain naval establishments upon the Great Lakes, the naval depot at Kingston was given up.
In 1838 Kingston received the charter of a city, though still called a town. In 1841, on the reunion of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, it was selected by Lord Syden ham as the capital of the new province of Canada. In 1844 the capital was transferred to Montreal. From Kingston have come many of the leading statesmen of the Canadian Do minion, such as Sir John Macdonald, Sir Oliver Mowat, Sir Richard Cartwright, Sir Archibald Campbell and Sir George Kirk patrick. Pop. 19,000.