The Fortess of Louisburg

Today we went to the attraction that is synonymous with Louisburg, that being the Fortress of Louisburg. In 1961 to employ many of the out of work miners the Canadian Government embarked on a 25 million dollar project to reconstruction this fortress on its original site. In actual fact they have only reconstructed a fifth of the original leaving the remaining portion to be completed by future generations. Detailed records from when it was first built has allowed them to rebuild things on exactly the same original site, and in some cases where the building had not been completely demolished, to reconstruct it using the remains and salvaged materials.
Now the history lesson! Louisburg was settled in 1713 by a French expedition relocating from Placentia, Newfoundland. By 1740 the population had reached 2500 with garrison numbers of about 700. In 1744 Great Britain and France declared war and in 1745 the British captured the fortress after a 6-week siege. The inhabitants and garrison were deported to France. In 1748-49 a treaty handed the colony back to the French and the inhabitants returned. Not having learnt a lesson from the last time when they were caught by the surprise land attack from the British, they were once again defeated in the same manner in 1758. To prevent a 3rd siege, a treaty was signed in 1763 and in 1768 the British garrison withdrew from Louisburg. In 1928 the Fortress of Louisburg was proclaimed a National Historic Site. Now each summer the Fortress springs to life as dozens of costumed animators become the town's residents of the summer of 1744. Period homes and exhibits line the central streets of Rue Toulouse and Rue Royale, as well as the busy waterfront. Men, women and children enact the range of society from the leisurely activities of the rich to the hard physical labour of the poor.
On our return we walked through the town but apart from 5 churches, 3 gift shops and a couple of small diary/groceries stores the town was dead. We did visit a small maritime museum and a railway museum.