Fort Amherst

ARTICLE CONTENTS:  |  Links to Other Sites
Fort Amherst, on the west shore of Charlottetown Harbour, PEI, was built in late 1758 by the British. The site had been known previously as Port La Joie, established in 1720 as the capital of the French colony of Île Saint-Jean. During the SEVEN YEARS' WAR British troops captured Port La Joie in mid-August 1758, following the surrender of LOUISBOURG. With the end of hostilities Fort Amherst soon fell into disrepair, and in 1768 the garrison was permanently withdrawn to HALIFAX, the centre of maritime defence. Nonetheless, in 1799 during the NAPOLEONIC WARS a blockhouse and battery were erected near the site, although the major defence works were at CHARLOTTETOWN. In 1967 Fort Amherst was designated as a national historic site and has been open to the public since 1973.

Author ROBERT S. ALLEN


Links to Other Sites
Port-la-Joye -- Fort Amherst National Historic Site of Canada
This Parks Canada site commemorates the first permanent European settlement on Prince Edward Island and location of French and British fortifications.

The Canadian Register of Historic Places
Canada is home to a vast array of fascinating historical sites. Many of them are illustrated and described in this searchable online database of Canadian historic places that are of local, provincial, territorial, and national significance.

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