Coming Soon: Don Cherry Reads
The City of Kingston is releasing a second version of "In Sir John A.'s Footsteps" — an audio walking tour of the first Prime Minister's Kingston — read this time by hockey legend and Kingston native Don Cherry. Click the "play" button above for a sample, and stay tuned for the rest.
In Sir John A.'s Footsteps: A Kingston Walking Tour
TOUR MAP
Download and print your own walking tour map.
[
PDF 131KB]
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"In Sir John A.'s Footsteps," by Kingston writer Arthur Milnes, is a self-guided, one-hour walking tour through the streets of Kingston, home of Sir John A. Macdonald — Canada's first Prime Minister — narrated by the Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien, the 20th Prime Minister of Canada, and the Hon. Peter Milliken, 34th Speaker of the House of Commons.
The printed guide for the walking tour, along with MP3 players pre-loaded with the audio accompaniment, is available to visitors at the Tourist Office across from City Hall on Ontario Street.
Virtual Tour: Can't come to Kingston? You can follow "In Sir John A.'s Footsteps" online
through the images and audio of our
virtual tour."
Walking Tour: You can also prepare for the walking tour yourself by printing the Walking Tour Map [PDF: 131KB] and downloading the audio below to a portable MP3 player.
Get The Audio: Podcast Option
iTunes users: 
subscribe to the podcast
of "In Sir John A's Footsteps" for free via the iTunes Store.
Or, if you use some other podcasting client software, you can copy and paste the URL below into that software's subscription dialogue:
Note: Be sure to get all 11 tracks (the introduction and audio for the 10 tour stops) before transferring the audio to your portable player.
Get The Audio: MP3 Download Option
As an alternative to subscribing to the podcast, you can download the Walking Tour audio as individual MP3 files and then copy those to your portable player before embarking on your tour.
Most users will need to right-click on the Download link and then Save the link target on their computers.
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Introduction: Welcome from Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Common, and an introduction to narrator and former Prime Minister Jean Chretien. |
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Stop 1: [Visitor's Centre] Begin your tour at the Visitor Information Centre on Ontario Street, facing City Hall. |
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Stop 2: [City Hall] Inside City Hall, where a portrait of Sir John A. dominates Memorial Hall and his desk is still in use. |
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Stop 3: [Market Square / King St.] From Market Square, you will head west along King Street, home to 14 of more than 100 taverns in Kingston of the mid-1800s |
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Stop 4: [Cartright House] "To say that Sir Richard Cartwright hated John A. would be a grand understatement, even by political standards." |
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Stop 5: [Hotel Belvedere] In the 1940s, a writer from Vogue Magazine described this hotel as the "the only reasonable place to stay between Montreal and Toronto" |
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Stop 6: [City Park] The commanding statue of Sir John A. Macdonald was erected in 1895 in honour of Kingston's most famous son. |
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Stop 7: [134 Earl Street] After the death of Macdonald's sister Margaret, his other sister, Louisa, and his brother in-law now widowed, Williamson, continued living here. |
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Stop 8: [194 Johnson Street] Sir John A. arrived home from political duties in Toronto on Christmas Eve of 1857. His first wife, Isabella, died three days later. |
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Stop 9: [180 Johnson Street] While Sir John A. and his wife Isabella lived in this house, Hugh John, the couple's only son to reach adulthood, was born here on March 13, 1850. |
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Stop 10 (3): [End / Market Square] It is fitting this Sir John A. Macdonald walking tour ends here at the Market Square, where Confederation itself was celebrated on July 1, 1867. |
