Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal is an engineering marvel constructed at a time when Great Britain and the United States of America vied for control of the north of the American continent. Conceived in the wake of the War of 1812, significant fortifications were also constructed at Kingston to protect and defend the a war-time supply route providing a secure water route for troops and supplies from Montreal. Thousands of Irish immigrants, French Canadians and Scottish stonemasons were among the laborers who helped push the canal through the rough bush, swamps and rocky wilderness of Eastern Ontario.