page_title: Fort George, Ontario
section_title: Gunpowder magazine
hierarchical_section_title: Fort George, Ontario / Grounds / Fort / Gunpowder magazine
caption_attribution_description: English: Built from 1796 to 1797, the magazine building is the only original building in Fort George at the Niagara On The Lake, Ontario Canada.
context_page_description: Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Armed Forces for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1812. The site of the fort has been a national historic site National Historic Site of Canada since 1921, and features a reconstruction of Fort George.
  The British established Fort George in the 1790s to replace Fort Niagara, although many of its structures were demolished in May 1813, during the Battle of Fort George. After the battle, American forces occupied the fort for seven months before withdrawing in December 1813. Although the British regained the fort shortly afterwards, little effort was put into its reconstruction after they captured Fort Niagara the following week. The poor wartime design of Fort George led its replacement by Fort Mississauga in the 1820s; although Fort George continued to see limited use from the military until the end of the First World War. During the late-1930s, the Niagara Parks Commission built a reconstruction of Fort George.
context_section_description: The fort's gunpowder magazine is the only structure in the fort that dates back to the fort's original construction in 1796. In addition to being the fort's oldest building the magazine is also Niagara-on-the-Lake's oldest building. Although the fort was built on elevated ground above Navy Hall, the gunpowder magazine was built over a depression of a ravine; making the roof the only part of the building visible from Fort Niagara. A drainage system was required to drain the moisture collected from the ravine shortly after the magazine's completion, in order to preventing the floor boards from rotting. Until the fort's gunpowder magazine was completed, the original Navy Hall was briefly used as an ammunition store after the British transferred their garrison from Fort Niagara to Fort George. Shortly after the gunpowder magazine's was completed, defensive earthworks were created to the northeast of the magazine in an effort to further fortify it. 
  The walls are made of 2.4-metre-thick (8 ft) limestone likely quarried from nearby Queenston. The interior was built with bricks, with a 0.91-metre-thick (3 ft) brick arch to reinforce its roof. The small windows and doors are sheathed in copper, preventing any accidental ignition of the gunpowder from sparks. The double-layered wooden floors were also pegged to the ground as opposed to mailed. In spite of these features however, the building itself was not shell-proof, and may be liable to fires as a result of accidents or enemy action. 
  Although the gunpowder magazine was situated in the portion of the fort that was abandoned by Isaac Brock, the gunpowder magazine itself remained in use. During the Battle of Queenston Heights, the metal covering on the magazine's roof was set ablaze, although the Garrison quickly removed the metal coverings and extinguished the fire. Although the fort was largely abandoned by the British in the 1820s in favour of Fort Mississauga, the magazine remained in use by Fort Mississauga's garrison until the 1830s. During the mid-19th century, the building was occasionally occupied by squatters.
  The building could store 300 barrels of gunpowder, a second stone and brick gunpowder magazine was built, though that magazine was abandoned and reported "in ruins" by 1814.
caption: The gunpowder magazine exterior walls are made of 2.4-metre-thick (8 ft) limestone
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