Martello Tower was originally built during the War of 1812 to guard the land approaches to the city, but it was not completed until after the war. It was modified for use as a powder magazine and used in that capacity from 1859 to 1866 when it was armed and manned by the New Brunswick Regiment of Garrison Artillery during the Fenian raids. From 1866 to 1869 the tower was used as a barracks. It was not used again until the First World War when it served as a detention centre for deserters of the 69th Battalion from November 1915 until April 1916. At the beginning of World War Two the tower was used as an anti-aircraft position by the 8th Anti-Aircraft Battery. In August 1941 the tower was manned as a Fire Command Post and remained in this role until August 1944.

No armament was mounted when the tower was built although the plans called for three 4 pdr. and two 24 pdr. guns. In 1866 two 32 pdr. guns were mounted on the tower but they were removed in 1877. The tower mounted no armament until late 1939 when the 8th Anti-Aircraft Battery placed some machine guns on the upper level of the tower. On 20 April 1942 a No. 3 Mark 4 telescope and a No. 10 Director were installed. On 1 May 1943 a Mark II Position Finder was added to the fire control equipment on the tower.

When originally built the tower was a round masonry structure, 30ft. high and 50 ft.in diameter. In 1846 a bombproof magazine was built inside the tower. The only major architectural change to the tower was the addition of a concrete fire command post built on top of the tower.

Read about Carleton Martello Tower's status as a National Historic Site .

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