Kingston Visitors Guide 2008 - (Page 16) continued from page 14 Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church (1987) Venice and its Lagoon (1987) Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (1986) Statue of Liberty (1984) Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (1983) Taj Mahal (1983) Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (1981) The World Great Barrier Reef (1981) Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur (1979) Yellowstone National Park (1978) As we head back to Kingston, our tour takes us through the many quaint villages offering self-guided heritage walking tours: Elgin, Newboro, Portland, Seeleys Bay and Delta, home of the Old Stone Mill, one of the oldest surviving grist mills in Ontario, built in 1810. Stop at Jones Falls to see the keystone arch dam, which was the highest in North America when it was built in 1830. Also visit the 1840’s blacksmith shop where you can still hear the sound of a hammer striking hot iron. Kingston Mills is the last lockstation before Kingston and Lake Ontario. The granite cliffs framing the deep gorge below the locks make one ponder the immensity of Lt.-Col. John By’s undertaking, armed only with hammers and wedges and gunpowder. The Rideau Waterway, built from 1826 to 1832 under the direction of Colonel By, is the oldest continuously operating 19th-century canal system in North America. The waterway was built to provide Upper Canada with a safe transportation route from Montreal to Kingston (then Upper Canada’s largest settlement) in case of war with our neighbours to the south, bypassing the St. Lawrence and out of range of enemy cannon. The waterway was never used for defence, but it served as an immigration route and an artery of commerce until the turn of the century. Tourism quickly became the most important activity on the Rideau, and many of Canada’s oldest summer resorts still operate along the waterway. Today, the Rideau remains a haven for tourists, and retains its elemental tranquility. Thirty-one locks raise boats from the Ottawa River to Upper Rideau Lake, the highest point on the route; fourteen locks lower boats to Lake Ontario. ❑ 16 visitor guide 2008 | www.kingstoncanada.com http://www.kingstoncanada.com
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