Prescott (Ontario)

Prescott is a town of 4,000 people (2016) in the Seaway Region of eastern Ontario, Canada.

Understand

Like Brockville directly to the west (and countless other "founded 1784" towns), Prescott was established by United Empire Loyalists soon after the American Revolution (1776-1783) to house the King's loyal subjects. The town's location on the St. Lawrence River at a narrows directly opposite Ogdensburg, New York, made it strategically important in the War of 1812 as the river was a key supply line. A US attack on Gananoque from Sackets Harbor on September 21, 1812 led to retaliation in which Prescott's 1812-era Fort Wellington attacked Ogdensburg on February 22, 1813.

A second Fort Wellington was built on the same site in 1838 as a response to an unsuccessful domestic rebellion.

Before the Seaway opened in 1958 to bypass rapids downriver at Long Sault, Great Lakes vessels would unload grains and cargo in Prescott-Ogdensburg for onward shipment by rail to Atlantic seaports. Rail lines were also constructed from the region to Ottawa to provide that city with access to river cargo; the Prescott-Ottawa line is now gone (except for a few fragments within Ottawa) but Brockville-Smiths Falls-Ottawa remains in use for passenger service to Toronto.

Get in

By car
  • From Montréal and Toronto, Prescott is on the Windsor-Quebec corridor as Highway 401 exit 714 (Edward Street)
  • From Ottawa, take Highway 416 southbound to the 401 (exit 721). Prescott-Ogdensburg is the first town upriver (west) from the international bridge.
  • From Watertown (New York), take NY 37 to Ogdensburg, then cross the bridge to Johnstown (401 exit 721). Prescott is 7 km (4.5 mi) upriver.

By train
The train no longer stops in Prescott; the town's limestone 1856 Grand Trunk wayside station (a National Historic Site) now houses the local historic society. VIA Rail service is available to Brockville from Montréal, Toronto and Ottawa; Montréal-Toronto buses also stop in Brockville.

By boat
  • 🌍 Sandra Lawn Harbour and Marina, 191 Water Street, ☏ +1 613-925-1255. Rotary Lighthouse with souvenir shop, outdoor amphitheatre with free summer Sunday concerts beginning at 7PM in July and 6:30PM in August, 148-slip seasonal boat harbour, playground and picnic area. 

By plane
The closest major airport is Ottawa Uplands (YOW IATA), about 40 minutes north by car. There's a small airport in Ogdensburg (OGS IATA) with a few flights a day to Albany; another alternative is Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL IATA).

Get around

See
  • 🌍 Fort Wellington National Historic Site, 370 Vankoughnet St, Prescott K0E 1T0 (at Hwy 2 / King St. E.), ☏ +1 613-925-2896, toll-free: +1 888-773-8888, fax: +1 613-925-1536. May-Oct: 10AM-5PM, closed Tu W except Jul & Aug. A historical open-air museum in a fortification built during the War of 1812 with guided tours through the restored buildings. $3.90, seniors $3.40, 17 or under free. 
  • 🌍 Forwarders Museum, 201 Water St., ☏ +1 613-925-1861. Late May-early Sep: daily 11AM-4PM. Three-storey structure built by Captain William Gilkison in 1810 at the height of the forwarding trade on the St. Lawrence River, when material carried downriver by boat was offloaded on land to skirt the nearby rapids. The building was used as an American Consul, a law office and a coin laundry before being taken over by the Grenville Historical Society in 1970; it now houses the municipal visitor centre. By donation. 
  • 🌍 Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site, Windmill Road (follow King St E. (Hwy 2) 2 km east from Fort Wellington, turn to waterfront on Windmill Road), ☏ +1 613-925-2896. A 60-foot-tall (18 m) stone lighthouse tower to the public. Visitors are led on a guided tour of the tower, and can climb to the top just below the lantern room for a view of the St. Lawrence River. It marks the site of the Battle of the Windmill, fought in November 1838, during the Upper Canada Rebellion. $1.90/person. 

Do

Buy

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Connect

Go next

Staying in Canada, Merrickville and the Rideau Canal.

Crossing the border to the USA, Ogdensburg.

Routes through Prescott
Kingston ← Brockville ←  W  E  → Morrisburg → Montreal
Ottawa ← Kemptville ←  N  S  → END
Ottawa ← becomes ←  N  S  → → becomes → Ogdensburg → Utica via


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