Sir John Johnson House Plaque

Williamstown, Ontario

This house of Sir John Johnson in Williamstown which served as a focus for the area United Empire Loyalists was designated in 1961 as a National Historic Site of Canada and plaqued in 1995. To discover the house, cross the bridge on Cty Rd. 19 South and turn on first lane to the left (follow the County Library sign)

The plaque, approved by the full Historic Sites and Monuments Board, 20 November 1993, reads:

SIR JOHN JOHNSON HOUSE / LA MAISON SIR JOHN JOHNSON

One of the oldest buildings standing in Ontario, the original five-bay structure at the centre of this house was built between 1784 and 1792. It was once part of a mill site developed by Sir John Johnson to encourage Loyalists to settle along the St. Lawrence River after the American Revolution. The original log house, constructed in the French-Canadian manner, was enlarged to the west after 1813 and to the east with a large Gothic Revival wing in the 1860s. This house provides an excellent record of vernacular building in early Canada.

Bâtie entre 1784 et 1792, la partie centrale de cette maison, comportant cinq baies, est l’une des plus vieilles constructions existant en Ontario. Elle faisait partie d’une colonie créée autour d’un moulin par sir John Johnson pour encourager les loyalistes à s’établir le long du Saint- Laurent après la révolution américaine. Le bâtiment d’origine, construit pièce sur pièce à la manière canadienne-française, fut agrandi à l’ouest après 1813 et une grande aile de style néo-gothique y fut ajoutée à l’est dans les années 1860. Cette maison offre un excellent exemple de l’architecture vernaculaire canadienne d’autrefois.

Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada

Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada

Click here for more information about Sir John Johnson’s manor house from the Parks Canada web site.