Fort Anne National Historic Site, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

As the country’s first national historic site, Fort Anne marks a milestone in Canadian heritage commemoration. This site, within the Mi’kmaw district of Kespukwitk, was at the heart of changing social, military, and political relations between the Mi’kmaq, Acadians, French, and British throughout the 17^th and 18^th centuries. A centre for European colonization, it was also the seat of government first for Acadie and then for Nova Scotia. Its current star-shaped, Vauban-style fortification dates to 1702, and was preserved through the efforts of local residents and generations of Canadians who treasure their cultural landscapes. 

For thousands of years, Indigenous groups have lived in this area. French colonists were present in nearby Port-Royal by the early 1600s, but it was the Scots who were the first to build a fort on the future site of Fort Anne in 1629. In 1632, this site was ceded to the French as a result of negotiations between France and Britain. The first of four French forts was built here in 1643. Over the next 60 years, the area changed hands periodically as New Englanders attacked and captured the fort, in 1654 and 1690, only to be replaced by the French. In 1702, French military engineers began to build the present Fort Anne. 

In 1710, the area fell to British forces for the last time, and the fort served as the military and administrative centre of British Nova Scotia. As a result, in 1755, it became the centre for the deportation of Acadians in the Annapolis Royal area. When Halifax became the capital in 1749, Fort Anne gradually fell into disrepair, although during periods of crisis – the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 – it was temporarily rehabilitated. The last British troops left in 1854 and on 27 July 1883, the War Department of Great Britain turned Fort Anne over to the Dominion of Canada. 

Over the subsequent decades, concerned local residents worked to ensure the preservation of the fort, and Fort Anne developed into a popular tourist destination. In 1917 it was acquired by the federal government as a National Historic Park, and three years later, it was recognized by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. It was the first national historic site to be developed in Canada and it has been in the Parks Canada system the longest of any site. Today the site consists of the remains of the mid-17th century star-shaped French fort (restored to the mid-18th century), one of the best earthen forts in Canada. In addition to the earthworks, a number of historic structures survive, including a 1708 powder magazine, an underground magazine, a sally port, and the reconstructed British officers’ quarters, which is now a museum. Two cemeteries are also located on the grounds. Fort Anne stands not only as testament to the area’s history, but as a landmark of early historical commemoration in Canada.