Grand River Naval Depot Plaque

GRAND RIVER NAVAL DEPOT 1815

In 1815 the Royal Navy began building a depot on the
present site of Port Maitland. Though intended in the event
of war to accommodate three frigates and 1,000 men, the
base actually supported only the four schooners which then
made up the British naval force on Lake Erie. The Rush-
Bagot Agreement (1817) between Britain and the United
States severely limited naval armament on the Great Lakes,
and the depot was thereafter staffed by small detachments of
soldiers. The wharf and four buildings were washed away in
a storm in 1827, and the remaining buildings had largely fallen
into ruin by 1834 when the establishment was abandoned.

Erected by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board,
Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario