Note 67 — Evans’s Pedestrious Tour of Four Thousand Miles—1818 (continued 2)

For an account of Fort George, see Buttrick’s Voyages, ante, note 7.

The village of Newark was about a quarter of a mile from this fort. It was settled by Loyalists immediately after the Revolution, and was then called West Niagara. When, in 1792, the province of Upper Canada was created, it was made the capital, and Governor Simcoe took up his residence there, changing the name to Newark. The Americans captured it (May, 1813), and held the place until the following December. Before leaving, Brigadier-general McClure ordered it to be burned, and all the houses, to the number of one hundred and fifty, were laid in ashes. When it was rebuilt after the war, the name Niagara was adopted.—Ed.