Partridge Island (Saint John)

 island, military, place with historical importance, fortification, historic landmark

The first quarantine station in Canada, being used as a quarantine station as early as 1785, it received its largest influx of immigrants in the 1840s during the Great Famine in Ireland (the "Potato Famine"). A shortage of potatoes occurred because of potato blight striking the staple crop, causing millions to starve to death or otherwise emigrate, mainly to North America and Canada. During the war the island was converted into a military outpost. Nowadays the only structures left standing are the concrete ones used in the war, as well as an operational lighthouse. There are tunnels under the ground built into the foundations which remain from some of these structures. In order to reach the island you must walk accross a long stone breakwater, on a foggy day when standing in the middle of the breakwater you cannot see land on either side. It is currently illegal to go there and is mostly visited by vandals and drunks. Nice day out though.

Fortifications:

In 1791 Governor Thomas Carleton ordered that Partridge Island be fortified, but it was not completed until 1800, when a signal station, a gun platform and a barracks were constructed. With the War of 1812, the harbour defences were improved by building on the island a nine gun battery, a blockhouse, a magazine and earthworks. In 1866 the island defence were manned to meet the Fenian threat. With growing tension between Russia and Britain in 1878, the island defence were again improved, with two 8 inch guns, two long 68 pounders, one 32 pounder and one 18 pounder. In World War One, Partridge Island played a key role in the harbour defences and was provided with six 4.7 inch guns and a searchlight. During the Second World War, the island defences were again upgraded, with two 6 inch naval guns and two 18 pounders, along with searchlight emplacements, observation posts, and underground magazines and crew shelters. Although German U-boats lay undetected off the island in 1942, no shots were fired in anger. In 1947, the military withdrew from Partridge Island. It is designated both a national and provincial historic site.