Brockville was renamed from Elizabethtown after Major General Sir Isaac Brock, who helped win the war of 1812 against the Americans. Fitting with the naming of the town, it was also one of the first Loyalist settlements in Upper Canada back in 1784.
Its courthouse was built in 1843 and is one of the oldest government buildings in the province. The first courthouse actually stood from as early as 1811, which was replaced in 1824 and then again in 1843. Today, this neo-classical structure still serves as the district courthouse and jail.
Another local sight is the Brockville railway tunnel. Constructed in 1860, it was the first railway tunnel in Canada and connected the main line to the riverfront so goods could be loaded directly from waterways to railways and vice versa. Today, it is converted into a public area with colourful lights inside the tunnel after the last train departed in 1954.
Brockville is a small town with many spires and steeples shooting out of its roofline. You can look back at the city from its waterfront and count at least a half dozen towers pointing up. These churches are the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Wall Street United Church, and First Presbyterian Church. All of different denominations.
