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The Museum is located in a building in Niagara-on-the-Lake known as "Butler's
Barracks". The building is owned and maintained by Parks Canada. The
name is a misnomer, however, as Butler's Rangers never occupied this building.
The original location of the Ranger Barracks built by Colonel John Butler on the
Niagara River bank between Fort George and Fort Mississauga. Those Barracks consisted
of two main buildings and a collection of shelters for Loyalist families. Following
the War of 1812, the British decided to relocate the Indian Department, and built
a complex of buildings on this site which eventually grew to 19 buildings. The
complex became known as Butler's Barracks, a carry-over as Butler had been a Deputy
Superintendent in the Indian Department. This
two-storey building (the Museum), known as the soldier's barracks, was probably
built in 1817. It is believed that the outer log walls and main support beams
are from the original building, and the walls dividing the rooms were put in about
1821. The
building appears to have been used almost continuously as a barracks or storeroom
until the mid-1960s. It is known that the 44th"Lincoln and Welland" Regiment used
the building in 1897, and A Company of the Regiment occupied the barracks in the
1960s. |