Niagara-on-the-Lake

Newark, as it was then, became the first capital of Upper Canada in 1792, and it was here that the legislature passed the Act Against Slavery in 1793, among the first anti-slavery legislation in the British Empire. American forces burned the town in December 1813 during the war, and what stands now is the rebuilding from 1815 onward: Regency and Georgian houses along Queen Street, kept largely intact. The Shaw Festival, founded in 1962 and dedicated to George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries, runs from April to December across several theatres. Vineyards surround the town, many making icewine.

History

The Neutral, then the Seneca and the Mississauga lived at the river mouth before the settlement was founded in 1781 as Butlersburg, after Colonel John Butler, a British base and a refuge for Loyalists. Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe renamed it Newark in 1792 and made it the first capital of Upper Canada, the legislature meeting at Navy Hall from 17 September 1792 until June 1796; Simcoe moved the capital to York in 1797, the town was renamed Niagara in 1798, Fort George was built in 1796-1799, and after the town was burned in December 1813 its people rebuilt it around Queen Street (Wikipedia, Niagara-on-the-Lake).

What's there

• The rebuilt town - Regency and Georgian streets from after the 1813 burning.
• The Shaw Festival - a long season of Shaw and contemporary drama.
• Fort George - a reconstructed British fort from the war of 1812.
• The vineyards - icewine and cool-climate wine estates around the town.

When to go

May to October for the town and vineyards; the Shaw Festival runs April to December. Icewine harvest happens on freezing January nights and has its own festival. Summer weekends are heavily crowded.

What to expect

Queen Street is packed with day visitors in summer and parking is difficult and charged. The town is expensive. Theatre tickets for popular shows sell out months ahead.

Nearby

Niagara Falls lies south; the Welland Canal is west.

Key facts