UNITED EMPIRE LOYALIST HERITAGE CENTRE & PARK
The best known United Empire Loyalist site in Canada is the United Empire Loyalist (UEL) Heritage Centre and Park in Adolphustown , Ontario located on the Adolphus Reach of the Bay of Quinte, and now part of the larger town of Greater Napanee in Lennox & Addington County. It includes a 72 acre park commemorating the arrival of the Loyalists in 1784 and features the first Loyalist landing site, the first Loyalist cemetery, the oldest monument to the Loyalists in Canada, and a museum with an archives.
A group of about 250 United Empire Loyalists led by Major Peter Van Alstine landed at Adolphustown on 16 June 1784. The group first sailed from New York in the fall of 1783 and spent the winter at Sorel , Quebec. In the spring, they continued up the St. Lawrence River to the Bay of Quinte and founded the first permanent white settlement in Adolphustown Township.
When I visited I viewed the museum which is housed in Allison House, named for David Wright Allison, a prominent local farmer who built the house in 1877 and was descended from the Loyalists who settled the area. I also viewed the United Empire Loyalist Cemetery and monument.The monument is a large granite obelisk erected in 1884 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the Loyalists.
The UEL Heritage Centre and Park was founded in 1956 by the Province of Ontario under Premier Leslie Frost as a Provincial Park to commemorate the landing of the United Empire Loyalists. The Park was originally established as a family campground and day-use facility and is now owned and operated by the Bay of Quinte Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.
In 1984 on the 200th Anniversary of the settling of the area, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Eastern Gates of the Loyalist Parkway on Highway 33. The UEL Heritage Centre and Park are located on the Parkway which extends from Kingston to Trenton, running for 94 kilometres hugging the Lake Ontario shoreline and passing through the municipalities of Loyalist Township, Greater Napanee, and Prince Edward County. The eastern entrance is marked by gates in Loyalist Township, and the western entrance is in Quinte West. The parkway connects the two parts via the Glenora ferry across the Adolphus Reach.
The Adolphustown Loyalist reenactment, known as Loyalist Landing Weekend, has been held in mid-June. It includes the landing of United Empire Loyalists at the beach and an annual UEL flag-raising event. There are also demonstrations on camp life and a naval battle at the beach.
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