Sackets Harbor, NY

As you enter Sackets Harbor you can see that it is a small quaint place to visit.



The marina is immediately to the right and is the site of the ship building activity in days gone by.


The welcoming committee was out to greet us,




and the locals have posted a sign sayinng "stay off the rocks" which advice that we definitely expect to follow on our trip in the north country. While we have been travelling in waters that have mud and sand bottoms, the Canadian Shield is composed of the "roots" of ancient mountains that have been compressed into the hardest of rocks, gneiss, marble, granite etc. As the mountains themselves have weathered away these roots have been left for the waters draining out of the Great Lakes to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

We visited two museums in Sacket harbor, this is one that uses the very old Union Hotel building.

The other finds it's home in the "Commanding Officer's Quarters" at the old fort.

The Commanding Officer had this view over his back fence of the harbor, which is now filled with pleasure craft, Monarch being one of them.

This harbor was a very strategic location during the war of 1812. The Americans and Canadians had been trading with one another across Lake Ontario. Many of the american businessmen complained about the competition, so Congress passed an act outlawing the trade. There wasn't much less trade, but it was then called "smuggling." American authorities tried to enforce the ban. Meanwhile England was in a protracted war with France and needed the trade, and on top of that they began stopping American merchant vessesl and "impressing" the American sailors into service with the Queens Navy. Soon hostilities broke out and Congress declared war.

It was primarily a naval war on Lakes Erie and Ontario. Since the St. Lawrence River did not allow sea going vessels to pass at that time, and Niagra Falls precluded ship travel between Ontario and Erie, all the vessels to fight the war had to be built on the lakes. It turned out to be a ship building war.

A large ship was built at Oswego by the Americans, only to find out that it drew too much water to enter the Oswego River. It was then realized that Sackets Harbor would easily accomodate ships of that size and a naval shipbuilding industry rapidly grew. Sackets Harbor was also recognizewd by the Army for its strategic importance, and several forts were built. We will leave the details of the "Battle of Sackets Harbor" and the outcome of the War of 1812 to be researched further by our gentle readers.

The Navy Point Marina at Sackets Harbor is the first one we have found with a rock/flower garden.