In 1789, the first dockyard was built at Point Frederick opposite present-day Kingston, Ontario. French and British shipwrights made warships that forced Americans into port in 1814, leading to their withdrawal from Canada. The dockyard was closed in 1853. It is now the home of the Royal Military College.

"The untold story of Point Frederick, where early nineteenth-century Canadians built warships that stopped invasion and brought peace. Opposite Kingston, Point Frederick was the 1789 dockyard home of the Provincial Marine on Lake Ontario and the headquarters of Britain's Royal Navy from 1813 to 1853. Today, it is the home of the Royal Military College of Canada. In this detailed narrative, with over one hundred archival maps, aerial views, colour photographs, and 3D reconstructions, Robert Banks recounts Point Frederick's building of great sail and steam warships, and the roles these vessels played in conflicts on Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, and Niagara. This included the War of 1812, when French Canadian and British shipwrights made warships that forced the U.S. Navy into port and led to the American withdrawal from Canada. The ships also played a role in the settlement of Upper Canada, the rebellions of 1837, the early planning of the Rideau Canal, and the beginning of the undefended border. Along the way, Banks introduces an array of people from Upper Canada, such as John Graves Simcoe and his wife, Elizabeth; Governor General Lord Dorchester; Major-General Sir Isaac Brock; Sir James Yeo, and even Charles Dickens. He also describes the day-to-day activities at Point Frederick, beyond shipbuilding and military campaigns, such as skating parties, sleigh rides, theatricals, crime and punishment, and disease and death."--