From here grew the city of Kingston, which today boasts a population of about 120,000. This was a city of major colonial historical maritime and military importance, particularly through the early part of the 19th century when invasion and annexation from the United States was considered a realistic threat. This is where many of the United Empire Loyalists settled, true to the British crown, after the American War of Independence. Kingston was once the capital of Canada and led the country into confederation in 1867. Kingston is today an attractive historical tourist city with a vibrant summertime waterfront and much of its limestone heritage architecture intact.
Much history also lies beneath the water near Kingston harbor.
There are supposedly over four hundred wrecks in the area, about forty of which a marked today as dive sites. European sailors who traveled the Great Lakes in past centuries feared these inland fresh water seas far more than they did the Atlantic Ocean crossing. There are thousands of shipwrecks in this unique water system. The waters around Kingston were particularly treacherous as it is that here the mighty St. Lawrence River forms a bottleneck with the first of the Great Lakes. Leaving the shelter of the Thousand Islands and Kingston harbor strong southwesterly winds can appear suddenly on the open unprotected waters of Lake Ontario and quickly change calm waters into ferocious swells that have claimed many an unfortunate vessel.