Murney Tower Museum

Built in 1846, Murney Tower is one of five separate 19th-century military installations comprising the Kingston Fortifications. The Tower was one of the most sophisticated Martello Towers built in British North America. It was built in response to the Oregon Crisis, a tense dispute over the border between British North America and the United States in the 1840s. Opened as a museum in 1925 by the Kingston Historical Society, today, it serves as the oldest museum in Kingston. The museum features three floors displaying a collection of military and domestic artefacts of 19th-century Kingston. In addition to being a National Historic site, in 2007, Murney Tower became part of the Rideau Canal and Kingston Fortifications World Heritage Site – the 14th World Heritage Site in Canada and the only one in Ontario.