Fort Mississauga Fort Mississauga National Historic Site is a fort along the shore of Lake Ontario , not far from the Niagara River in Niagara - on - the - Lake , Ontario . The fort today consists of a box – shaped brick tower and historic star – shaped earthworks . The all – brick fort was built from 1814 – 1816 during the War of 1812 , to replace nearby Fort George . It was built on a foundation of brick and stone salvaged from rubble left after United States forces sacked the nearby town of Newark in December , 1813 . It would help in the defence of Upper Canada the following year , as part of a regional network that included Fort George , Navy Hall , and Butler ' s Barracks . However , the fort wouldn ' t be completed until after the war . Construction of the Fort . Construction of Fort Mississauga After the British captured Fort Niagara on 19 December 1813 , the Coloured Corps was attached to the Royal Engineers to help repair the fortifications at the mouth of the Niagara River . Whether race influenced the authorities ’ choice for this duty is not known , as one engineer later reported : “ When I visited the Niagara Frontier … I found that a corps of Free Men of Colour had been raised … but had been turned over to that of the Engineers , any necessity for this I never could learn , but it seems to have been the fashion in Canada to heap all kinds of duties upon the latter . ” Toward the spring of 1814 the company was ordered to construct a new fort on the Canadian shore , dubbed Fort Mississauga , materials for which were obtained from the ruins of the nearby town of Niagara . With the American navy now controlling Lake Ontario , this work was crucial to the security of British forces in the Niagara Peninsula , one British officer later noting “ Mississauga … is a pretty little Fort , and would prevent vessels coming up the river . ” These duties consequently precluded the Coloured Corps ’ participation in the Niagara campaign that summer , even during the subsequent Siege of Fort Erie , where British forces desperately lacked trained engineer troops . Source : http : / / www . eighteentwelve . ca / ? q = eng / Topic / 25 Early uses of the site . Before the fort was built , the site was used by at least three Native American tribes : the Neutral ( 15th century ) ; Seneca ( late 17th century ) ; and Mississauga ( 18th century ) . In 1804 , a lighthouse was erected at the site , which had become known as Mississauga Point . This was the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes , but was dismantled in 1814 to make way for Fort Mississauga , which incorporated stone from the lighthouse . Mississauga Point Lighthouse was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1937 , and is today commemorated within the walls of Fort Mississauga by a plaque erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada . Use of the fort . The British Army was stationed at the fort from 1813 to 1855 , followed by the Canadian Army , which used it as summer training ground beginning in the 1870s , then during both World Wars and the Korean War . A golf course was laid out nearby in the late 1870s . Today , Niagara - on - the - Lake Golf Course surrounds the site , but public access is permitted via a walking path , with a warning to look out for golfers , who have the right of way . The path starts at the corner of Front and Simcoe streets . The block house is the only building of the original fort to survive with all other buildings destroyed or dismantled . The interior of the blockhouse is closed , but has wooden staircases leading to some upper windows . Fort Mississauga is a National Historic Site of Canada , and one of a handful of properties which comprise Niagara National Historic Sites , an administrative group managed by Parks Canada in the National Park System . The Museum is affiliated with : CMA , CHIN , and Virtual Museum of Canada .