Fort York
On the 20th of July 1793, one hundred soldiers from the Queen's Rangers landed near Garrison Creek in Toronto. They began constructing thirty cabins made from green wood to serve as winter quarters for a new British garrison. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe had selected this location because its natural harbor offered only a single water access point. This geographic feature made the site easy to defend against potential American attacks. Simcoe envisioned the fort as the center of a transportation network connecting British forces across the colony. He planned for subsidiary fortifications along east-west roads and a north-south portage route leading to Georgian Bay. These routes were vital for maintaining communication with outposts on lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. However, many of these planned subsidiary forts never materialized due to a lack of funds. The governor general of the Canadas, Lord Dorchester, rejected Simcoe's proposal to further fortify the settlement. Dorchester believed money should instead improve defenses at the naval base in Kingston. Despite this objection, Simcoe pressed forward with construction using provincial treasury funds rather than military allocations.
American forces attacked the town of York in April 1813 during the War of 1812. Most professional troops and First Nations-allied warriors assembled at Fort York after reports of approaching ships reached the settlement. The regulars and militias stationed at the town's blockhouse reassembled at Fort York once landings failed to occur east of the settlement. Fighting occurred approximately one mile west of the fort where American forces landed. Unable to repel the force at the western battery, the British-First Nations force retreated back to the fort. Roger Hale Sheaffe, the British commanding officer, ordered a silent withdrawal from the fort. He also rigged the fort's gunpowder magazine to explode to prevent its capture. The magazine contained seventy-four tons of iron shells and three hundred barrels of gunpowder. When ignited, the explosion launched significant debris into the air onto American forces still outside the fort. This blast resulted in over two hundred fifty American casualties including Brigadier General Zebulon Pike. Fearing a counterattack, American forces regrouped outside the wall before advancing on the abandoned fort. During their occupation, members of the militia were detained for two days before being released on parole. Government House was razed by American forces on the 1st of May 1813.
Plans to rebuild the settlement's defenses began in the second half of 1813 to protect a four-vessel squadron planned for York's harbor. Several structures were completed by November 1813 including the Government House Battery and the Circular Battery. Each battery held two mortars while another two blockhouses neared completion. These blockhouses were designed to act as barracks allowing for immediate garrisoning of troops. Forest clearing around the fort deprived Americans of cover during potential future attacks. The fort was not fully completed until around 1815 due to small numbers of artificers available at York. A warm winter from 1813 to 1814 prevented the use of sleighs to transport supplies. From the latter half of 1813 to the end of the war, the fort operated as a hospital center. The naval squadron stationed at York assisted in transporting wounded soldiers from the Niagara front to the town. On the 6th of August 1814, an American naval squadron arrived near York's harbor under suspicion that British vessels were present. The militia stationed in the fort shot at a vessel dispatched under a white flag resulting in exchanged fire before the Lady of the Lake withdrew back to its squadron.
Work on the fort came to an immediate halt at the end of the war in 1815. By 1816 the rebuilt fort included eighteen buildings capable of holding a garrison of six hundred fifty soldiers. An additional three hundred fifty soldiers could be garrisoned in adjacent military facilities. In the decades after the War of 1812 several buildings within the fort were torn down and replaced. New fortifications needed to replace the decaying Fort York with a plan formally approved in 1833. Completed in 1841, New Fort York was situated one mile west of Fort York. Although new fortifications were erected the military continued to use Fort York's batteries to help defend the harbor. From 1839 to 1840 the old fort hosted a Royal Society meteorological and magnetic observatory before it moved to King's College campus. During the Rebellions of 1837, 1838 the garrison was dispatched to Lower Canada leaving only ten regulars behind. The fort was eventually reinforced by the Queen's Rangers after the Battle of Montgomery's Tavern. Deteriorating Anglo-American relations in the 1860s prompted the military to look into fortifying the Toronto garrison again. Fort York was formally handed over to the federal government of Canada on the 25th of July 1870.
In 1932 the municipal government of Toronto undertook a two-year restoration converting the fort into a historic site and museum. The city began restoring the fort to its 1816 configuration as a make-work program celebrating the centennial of Toronto's incorporation. As a result of the restoration the Canadian militia ended its occupancy though the military briefly reused parts during the Second World War. Fort York was formally reopened as a museum on Victoria Day in 1934. A historical reenactment unit dressed as infantry soldiers supported museum operations. In 1958 the government of Metropolitan Toronto proposed moving Fort York along the contemporary waterfront to make way for the Gardiner Expressway. The proposal was rejected due to public opposition with the planned expressway rerouted around the fort. This public effort served as the impetus for the historic preservation movement in Toronto. On the 25th of May 1923 Fort York was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. In 1994 the Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common was formed by local residents to support the national historic site.
The fort complex occupies approximately four hectares of land including bastioned stone-lined earthwork and buildings within it. It is the only remaining authentic fort built in Canada during the War of 1812. The defensive earthworks and seven buildings date back to its 1813, 15 reconstruction. These buildings form the largest collection of structures from that war period in all of Canada. The fort contains eight historical buildings including two blockhouses, two soldiers barracks, an officers' brick barracks, mess hall, and magazines. The stone magazine has walls three feet thick featuring a vaulted bomb-proof door. Problems in the magazine's foundations led to the construction of a separate brick magazine. Three barracks date back to the fort's reconstruction while one blue officer's barracks is a reconstruction built in 1986. The blockhouses featured splinter-proof constructions with loopholes and portholes for small arms. Both blockhouses had raised entrances on the second floor facing east expecting attacks from the west. The visitor centre opened to the public in 2014 designed by Patkau Architects and Kearns Mancini Architects. Its southern facade features monolithic weathering steel panels reflecting the historical escarpment.
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Common questions
When was Fort York originally constructed by the Queen's Rangers?
Fort York was originally constructed starting on the 20th of July 1793 when one hundred soldiers from the Queen's Rangers landed near Garrison Creek in Toronto. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe selected this location to serve as a new British garrison with thirty cabins made from green wood for winter quarters.
What happened during the American attack on Fort York in April 1813?
American forces attacked the town of York in April 1813 and British commanding officer Roger Hale Sheaffe ordered a silent withdrawal while rigging the fort's gunpowder magazine to explode. The resulting blast launched significant debris into the air onto American forces and resulted in over two hundred fifty casualties including Brigadier General Zebulon Pike.
How many buildings were included in the rebuilt Fort York by 1816?
By 1836 the rebuilt fort included eighteen buildings capable of holding a garrison of six hundred fifty soldiers. An additional three hundred fifty soldiers could be garrisoned in adjacent military facilities after work came to an immediate halt at the end of the war in 1815.
When did Fort York become a National Historic Site of Canada?
Fort York was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada on the 25th of May 1923. The municipal government of Toronto undertook a two-year restoration starting in 1932 converting the fort into a historic site and museum before it formally reopened on Victoria Day in 1934.
What is unique about the stone magazine walls at Fort York?
The stone magazine has walls three feet thick featuring a vaulted bomb-proof door. Problems in the magazine's foundations led to the construction of a separate brick magazine while the original contained seventy-four tons of iron shells and three hundred barrels of gunpowder.