The Kingston Dry Dock is a designated national historic site owned by the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston.
The Kingston Dry Dock formed part of the Kingston Shipyards which closed in 1968 and was later occupied the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston from 1975. In 2016 the federally-owned property was sold and the Museum moved to 53 Yonge St., down at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. In 2019, the Marine Museum purchased the 55 Ontario St. property and has since been moving back all of the artefacts to the historic property gradually while they work to restore the exhibits. The Marine Museum is now happy to be back home and open to the public!
The Kingston Dry Dock is located on Mississauga Point, part of the Kingston waterfront on Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River. Built in 1890-91, the Dry Dock played a significant part in the maritime heritage and history of Kingston and the Great Lakes for over 70 years. It was an important building and repair facility for ships as it provided dry working access to the exterior of a vessel below the waterline. The dock was originally built with limestone and had an inner invert width of 16.8 metres and a floor length of 85.3 metres. It was later extended using concrete to 115.2 metres in the 1920s to allow for the servicing of larger vessels. The dry dock gate or floating steel caisson is situated at one end of the dock in a rectangular berth set at right angles to the entrance.
