Adolphustown was founded in 1784 by
United Empire Loyalists. The original Loyalist Landing site is now the U.E.L. Heritage Centre & Park, a museum, public park, and family campground. The settlement was named for
Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, seventh son of
King George III. A number of
Quakers settled in this area in 1784 and held their first Monthly Meetings in Canada here. The Old Hay Bay Church, built by
United Empire Loyalist settlers in 1792 and the oldest
Methodist building in Canada, was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada. It is open during the summer. The settlement serves as the eastern terminus of the ferry crossing to
Glenora, Ontario. The ferry is free for vehicles and pedestrians and links the western and eastern halves of one of the oldest colonial roads in the province, the
Loyalist Parkway (Ontario Highway 33), at the point where the parkway is interrupted by the Bay of Quinte. This crossing appears to have been in use at least as early as 1802, when an extension of
Asa Danforth Jr.'s pioneering
road, from
eastern Toronto through what is now
Trenton, first reached the Bay of Quinte at Stone Mills (Glenora). By 1869, Adolphustown was a station on the
Grand Trunk Railway with a population of 100 in the Township of Adolphustown, County of Lennox and shore of Bay of Quinte. The principal trade was in grain stock and cordwood. Land averaged from $30 to $40 per acre. Other development—such as the 1817
York Road, the 1856 Grand Trunk Railway, and 1964 segment of
Highway 401—took a more northern route through
Napanee-
Belleville. ==Notable people==