Fort Howe National Historic Site of Canada

Fort Howe was built by the British during the American Revolution shortly after the American Siege of Saint John (1777), to protect Saint John from further American raids. The 18th and 19th century British Army fortification is built in present-day New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. John River where it empties into the Bay of Fundy. The site of the fort is now located within the city of Saint John. Fort Howe includes a replica of the blockhouse that once stood at Fort Howe. It is located approximately 250 metres to the northeast of the original structure. The fort initially held eight cannons, barracks for 100 men, two blockhouses, and an outer wall composed of fascines, sticks and sod. By 1778, the fort consisted of a more substantial blockhouse and barracks located within a palisade, as well as an abatis. A further third blockhouse was constructed at the east end of the hill, which was the continuation of a ridge formed by the St. Croix Highlands - a coastal extension of the Appalachian Mountains along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy. Upon completion of the fort the British Army named it "Fort Howe", after Sir William Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in America between 1775-1778. The fortification provided watch over the strategic river mouth and offered protection for surrounding rural communities from American privateers and marauding forces.