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Ontario Tourism Region : The Great Waterway
Business Hours:
- Business Hours Counter are from 9-5 Monday-Friday, 9-12 on Saturday and closed Sunday.
Description From Owner:
- Pop. 1,274. In Ernestown T., Lennox & Addington C., on the N Ch. ofL. Ontario opposite Amherst I., on Hwy 33, 24 km SW of Kingston.
- Land was first granted in 1777 to the Loyal Rangers, a Loyalist force raised in 1776 by Edward Jessup (1735-1816) in the Albany area.
- The land was surveyed in 1783 and named Ernest Town after the fifth child of King George III. It was settled in 1784 by about 400 United Empire Loyalists led by Col. Edward Jessup.
- The first Anglican services west of Kingston were held in the home ofCapt. Jeptha Hawley, a United Empire Loyalist from Arlington, VT. Hawley's original cabin, at the west edge of the village on Hwy 33, is the oldest structure in the area.
- The stone portion was likely added in the 1790s to serve as quarters for the Rev. John Langhorn, the area's first resident Anglican clergyman.
- In 1811, Bath Academy was founded by local subscription and opened briefly as a public school before being requisitioned as a military barracks during the War of 1812.
- It later reopened with an extensive curriculum and eamed an excellent reputation for scholarship.
- In 1812 the community was named after the famous English health resort.
- In the same year the first significant naval action of the War of 1812 took place about 8 km W of Bath, when the British warship Royal George escaped its American pursuers by adroitly navigating the gap between Prince Edward County and Amherst I.
- After an exchange of fire in Kingston harbour the following day, the American fleet was forced to withdraw.
- The first Canadian steamship, the Frontenac, was launched here in 1816, and Bath was also site of the first brewery/distillery in Upper Canada.
- The population of more than 2,000 began to decline in the 1850s, when the Grand Trunk Railway line between Toronto and Montreal turned inland at Collins Bay, just west of Kingston, and bypassed Bath.
- Ontario's first hanging was at Bath:
- The first criminal court at Bath was held in Finkle's Tavern, and the first hanging in Upper Canada was from a nearby tree about 1790.
- The condemned man was accused of stealing a watch which he denied to the end. It was subsequently discovered the watch had been lost and was found again.
- Until quite recently a large tree stood opposite Finkle's Tavern and was used as a public whipping post. One of the first thus punished was a black man for stealing a loaf of bread.
Address of this page: http://www.ruralroutes.com/bathpost