French period Before the arrival of Europeans to the
Grenville County area, it was inhabited by the
St. Lawrence Iroquois. The
French began occupation of the area in the late 17th century, starting with a supply depot and fortified outpost named La Galette en route to
Fort Frontenac (
Kingston), which was built in the 1670s. Some sources place La Galette at Prescott, while others place it at neighbouring
Johnstown. though they soon abandoned it in favour of the older Fort de La Présentation, which they renamed Fort Oswegatchie. In 1796, provisions of the
Jay Treaty led to a British evacuation from Fort Oswegatchie, as the land had legally become a part of the United States. Within months, this area was soon occupied by American settlers, who named it
Ogdensburgh (later Ogdensburg) after
Samuel Ogden, a prominent landowner and speculator.
Fort Wellington In 1810, Jessup and his son laid out a townsite within Augusta Township near Johnstown, which they named Prescott in honour of General
Robert Prescott, who had been governor-in-chief in
The Canadas and had participated in British campaigns in the area, being the
aide-de-camp tasked with delivering the news of the fall of Fort Lévis fifty years earlier. Jessup began to take the first steps toward building a concentrated settlement by constructing a log
schoolhouse along with a teacher's residence, which was built from stone.
Industry RCA operated a television assembly plant in Prescott, established in 1953 for the Canadian market. It was closed in March 1997.
Transport Prescott's harbour developed considerably in the early 19th century, supporting the growing
Great Lakes shipping industry. It became notable for its
freight forwarding businesses, as local forwarders shuttled Great Lakes freight between Prescott and Montreal. This was commemorated at the Forwarders' Museum, which was housed in a building originally constructed in the 1820s by local forwarder William Gilkinson. By the mid-19th century, however, the forwarding industry began to decline. Navigability of the Saint Lawrence had improved, allowing more Great Lakes ships to reach Montreal directly. Soon, Upper Canada experienced a railway boom, which provided competition for the maritime shipping industry. This was followed by the construction of the
Grand Trunk Railway mainline between Toronto and Montreal, which connected to the Bytown and Prescott Railway at Prescott Junction. With parallel railway development occurring across the river in Ogdensburg,
railway car ferry services began between the two towns, which later evolved into the Canadian Pacific Car and Passenger Transfer Company. When the investigation concluded, the total victim count was 275 (including 113 adults who disclosed that they were abused as children), and the total perpetrator count was 119. The case was sensationalized as an example of
Satanic ritual abuse, though it was never linked to a satanic cult, but rather, "a group of adults of limited intelligence who lived on the margins of society." ==Demographics==