The Limestone City

Kingston, Ontario Canada is known world-wide as the Limestone City.

From the late 1600’s when explorers from France first navigated the local waterways, through the French Fort Frontenac, the British Fort Frontenac and into the 1800’s when Fort Henry was designed and built, limestone was the building choice in the greater Kingston area. The reason? Massive limestone beds just under the topsoil.

Many of Kingston’s limestone buildings were built by carving limestone out of the ground right where the building was constructed.

Skilled masons, many of whom came to Canada to help build the Rideau Canal between Kingston and Ottawa, became available to work for the prosperous merchants, shipbuilders, and contractors in Kingston build their limestone homes, their buildings, and the fortifications in what became the limestone city in Canada.

This page is dedicated to the stone-built homes and buildings in The Limestone City, Kingston – Ontario, Canada and provides information on each, linked from the list below. Through these pages you can have a virtual tour of the limestone city, for interest, or to help you better navigate when you visit incredible Kingston Ontario.

• The Prince George Hotel