Media Advisory - Provincial plaque commemorates Royal Navy Depot Holland
Landing from War of 1812

SHARON, ON, Sept. 27 /CNW/ -

Join the Ontario Heritage Trust and the Town of East Gwillimbury for the unveiling of a provincial plaque commemorating Holland's Landing Depot - a former Royal Navy depot constructed during the War of 1812.

After the British loss at Moraviantown in 1813, the Holland's Landing Depot became the principal distribution point for British authorities to move supplies from York (Toronto) through to Georgian Bay, avoiding American forces in the Niagara-Lake Erie-Detroit River corridor and supporting the war effort on the upper Great Lakes. Located on Soldiers' Bay, the depot served as an administrative and transshipment centre, as well as a storehouse for gifts distributed to First Nations allies in the region.

With the return of peace in 1815, the majority of local military operations were gradually moved to Penetanguishene, leading to the decline and abandonment of the depot in the following decades. In the late 1870s, the last notable vestige of the depot disappeared, when an old anchor left behind at the end of the War of 1812 was moved to the settlement of Holland Landing, becoming the marquee gateway to the town's Anchor Park. Although the Holland's Landing Depot came to a quiet end, it played a critical role in the security and progress of the colony that would become Ontario.

The Ontario Heritage Trust's Provincial Plaque Program commemorates significant people, places and events in Ontario's history. Since 1953, over 1,200 provincial plaques have been unveiled.

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