Fort Howe - National Park and National Historic Site

National Park and National Historic Site

Fort Howe has the distinction of being the first historic site in the national park system. The site was designated a National Historic Park, named Fort Howe National Park, on March 30, 1914 partly at the urging of James B. Harkin, first Commissioner of Dominion (National) Parks. It had been federal property already, under the Department of Militia and Defence, making the transition easier. One rationale for its creation was to introduce the national park concept to eastern populations, but its historic resources proved problematic. For one, the Parks Branch had no experience managing a historic site, and its primary concern was to create an urban recreational park. Historic resources were incidental. For another, Fort Howe itself "was not a very important historic site", and was used to acquire "undistinguished property."

Its tentative creation, along with a recommendation to establish Beaver Dams National Battlefield Park (1914) and the formation of Fort Anne National Park (1917), provided some of the impetus for the Parks Branch to formalize its heritage policy. One significant result of this was the creation of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) in 1919, an advisory body which would assess historic sites.

Early on, Harkin was uncomfortable with Fort Howe in the park system, and, with the site deemed inferior to others more worthy of inclusion, and "never very successful", the fort was eventually given to the city of Saint John in 1930, abolishing the national park. In 1966, Fort Howe was designated a National Historic Site of Canada by the HSMBC, but did not rejoin the national park system. Since then, there have been several schemes to rebuild the fortification in its entirety to depict its hey-day during the American Revolutionary War.

As part of the city's commemoration of the centennial of Confederation in 1967, the Saint John chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire and the city erected a full-size replica of one of Fort Howe's blockhouses upon the site. Several original or replica 18th century cannons, as well as one of the Second World War anti-aircraft batteries, are located on the site, which is a popular lookout for tourists and residents in the hill-top park overlooking the city and harbour.

The Fort is affiliated with the Canadian Museums Association, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, and the Virtual Museum of Canada.