A little about the Niagara on the Lake area:
The original site was a Neutral Nation village known as Onghiara. In 1781 the British government established Butlersburg which later became known as West Niagara. Many of the first inhabitants were Loyalists who fled the United States during and immediately after the American Revolution.

In 1792 the village was incorporated as the Town of Newark and was named the capital of the Province of Upper Canada. The town lost that distinction to York (now Toronto) in 1797, as Newark's proximity to the United States presented a danger. The town was renamed Niagara in 1798. During the War of 1812, American forces captured and later destroyed the town before they withdrew. The British rebuilt, however, and today it has retained much of its historical charm. The present name was adopted around 1880 as a Postal Address to distinguish the town from Niagara Falls. The name was not officially adopted until 1970, when an act of Parliament joined the Town of Niagara, and the Township of Niagara as one.

Some history behind Niagara-On-The-lake:
Most of the former military sites, such as Fort George, Navy Hall, and Butler's Barracks, have been restored. Fort George's restoration was done as a "Make Work Project", guided by plans from the Royal Engineers, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, an early example of historic preservation. Fort George National Historic Site is a focal point in a collection of War of 1812 sites which, collectively, are managed by Parks Canada under the name Niagara National Historic Sites. That administrative name includes several national historic sites: Fort Mississauga, Mississauga Point Lighthouse (1804, the first on the Great Lakes), Navy Hall, Butler's Barracks, and Queenston Heights.

Niagara-on-the-Lake ("N-O-T-L" in local shorthand) teems with historical plaques, many national and provincial, reflecting its significance in the establishment of many of the province's institutions. Among these were its first newspaper, lending library, parliament, historical museum, and governing body for the legal profession. Critical battles in the defence of Upper Canada took place here, at Queenston, including one in which heroine Laura Secord gained her fame. The town gave many black Americans their first taste of freedom, both as a stop on the Underground Railroad for those travelling further into Upper Canada, and as a refuge in its own right. Its stock of Regency and Classical Revival buildings, considered the best in the country from the post–War of 1812 period, led the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada to designate parts of the town center a National Historic District in 2004, the only one in Ontario. And, although it did not make the final list, the Historic District was considered for nomination as a World Heritage Site.

Nearby Towns: Virgil, Queenston, St. Davids

For more information on Fort Erie, visit Wikipedia.org