Description of Historic Place

Glengarry Landing National Historic Site of Canada is located on the east bank of the Nottawasaga River, south of Edenvale in Simcoe County, Ontario. The site consists of a semi-rural landscape that was occupied during the War of 1812 by the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles who constructed a flotilla of boats to relieve the British garrison at Fort Michilimackinac. At the time of designation, the site encompassed cleared fields and pasture, with no evidence of the 1814 military expedition’s activities. Today, the site has been divided into several lots, with the addition of several different structures and access roads. Official recognition refers to the legal property boundaries at the time of designation.

Heritage Value

Glengarry Landing was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1923 because:
- at the forks of the Nottawasaga River, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert McDouall, Glengarry Light Infantry, built the flotilla of boats with which he effected the relief of the British garrison at Fort Michilimackinac in May 1814, and the subsequent capture, in July, of Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi.

In February 1814, during the War of 1812, the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles was sent from Kingston under the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert McDouall to reinforce the garrison at Fort Michilimackinac. En route, the troops stopped at the junction of the Nottawasaga River and Marl Creek, where they spent two months constructing a flotilla of boats to move supplies and troops across Lake Huron to the fort. On April 19, 1814, the flotilla left the landing for Fort Michilimackinac. Subsequently, McDouall divided his forces and sent a party to Wisconsin, under the command of Brevet Major William McKay, to recapture Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River. This mission was successfully carried out in July 1814.

Sources: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, 1935; December 2007.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements contributing to the heritage value of this site include:
- its location south of Edenvale in Simcoe County, Ontario;
- the flat, semi-rural character of the landscape on the east bank of the Nottawasaga River;
- its proximity to Lake Huron and its relationship with the associated sites, including Fort Michilimackinac and Prairie du Chien;
- the integrity of any surviving or as yet unidentified archaeological remains which may be found within the site in their original placement and extent;
- viewscapes from the site across the Nottawasaga River.