The busy resort of Fort William lies at the south end of Caledonian Canal. It makes an excellent starting point for excursions into the unspoiled Northwest Highlands and also for ascents of Ben Nevis.
Local people find employment in the aluminum works, a paper factory, and, increasingly, tourism.
Fort William, after which
the town was eventually named, was built in 1654 by General Monk, at Inverlochy, for Oliver Cromwell following the 1st Jacobite Rising. When William of Orange came to the throne the village, as it then was, was re-named Maryburgh, in 1690, after his consort Mary. The small town was later re-named Gordonsburgh after the Duke of Gordon its (land) Superior. When Gordon went broke, for want of a better word, the Camerons took over the Superiority and the town was re-named Duncansburgh after Sir Duncan Cameron of Fassfern. In a final change the town's name became Fort William after William Augustus "The Butcher" Duke of Cumberland." There is an interesting cross at the west end of the High Street commemorating these changes.
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