Fort Frontenac

Fort Frontenac (formerly Fort Cataraqui)
Part of chain of French forts throughout Great Lakes and upper Mississippi region.
Mouth of Cataraqui River, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Remnants of the old fort with the new Fort Frontenac in the background
Site information
Controlled by	Original: New France
Condition	Present fort: military barrack buildings used as college. Remnants of original stone fort can be seen.
Site history
Built	1673
Built by	Louis de Buade de Frontenac
In use	1673– present. Periods of abandonment.
Materials	Original: wood palisade, partially rebuilt with stone in 1675, rebuilt completely of stone 1695.
Demolished	1689 but later rebuilt. Destroyed by British, 1758. Partly rebuilt, 1783.
Battles/wars	Iroquois siege, 1688, Battle of Fort Frontenac (Seven Years' War), 1758
Garrison information
Occupants	French, British, Canadian
National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1923

Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in July 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario (at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway), in a location traditionally known as Cataraqui. It is the present-day location of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The original fort, a crude, wooden palisade structure, was called Fort Cataraqui but was later named for Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France who was responsible for building the fort. It was abandoned and razed in 1689, then rebuilt in 1695.

The British destroyed the fort in 1758 during the Seven Years' War and its ruins remained abandoned until the British took possession and reconstructed it in 1783. In 1870–71 the fort was turned over to the Canadian military, who continue to use it.