Fort York
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Fort York is a historic site of military fortifications and related buildings on the west side of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was built by the British Army and Canadian militia troops in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, to defend the settlement and the new capital of the Upper Canada region from the threat of a military attack, principally from the newly independent United States.
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[edit] Founding
In 1793, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe authorized a garrison on the present site of Fort York, just west of the mouth of Garrison Creek on the north eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Simcoe recognized Toronto was an ideal site for settlement and defence because of its natural harbour and relative distance from the United States. Fort York guards the western (at the time of construction, the only) entrance to Toronto harbour. Simcoe had decided to make Toronto (at that time called York) the capital of Upper Canada, and the government, the first parliament buildings and the town were established one and a half miles east of the fort (near the foot of the present Parliament Street).
[edit] Buildings
Most of the Fort was demolished in the Battle of York, 1813 (see below). The buildings visible now were largely built by Royal Engineers immediately after the war of 1812. They are among the oldest buildings in Toronto today:
- Brick Barracks 1815
- Officers Barracks and Mess 1826
- Junior Officers Barracks 1930
- Blockhouse # 2 1813
- Brick Magazine 1814
- Blockhouse # 1 1813
- Stone Powder Magazine 1815
Rebuilding of Fort York began in 1932-1934 and restoration in 1985. These buildings represent some of the oldest structures in Toronto still standing.
[edit] The War of 1812 and after
During the War of 1812, on April 27, 1813 combined American Army and naval forces attacked York from Lake Ontario, overrunning Fort York (see Battle of York). As the British abandoned the fort, they set the powder magazine to blow up, killing and wounding several hundred American soldiers (Including American General Zebulon Pike {For whom Pikes Peak is named } ) and producing such a loud explosion that people were able to hear it from Fort George.[citation needed] This would only be rivaled by an explosion of black powder the British set off when they were unable to bring with them said powder in their retreat from Corunna under Moore around the same time in the Napoleonic campaign in Europe.[citation needed] The Americans destroyed Fort York and burned much of the settlement of York including the parliament buildings during their five days of occupation. They had defeated outnumbered British, Canadian militia and First Nations forces. Following several more US raids over the summer, the British garrison returned to York and rebuilt the fortifications, most of which are still standing today. The rebuilt fort was sufficient to repel a further attempted invasion in 1814.
The British Army occupied Fort York from 1793 to the 1850s and transferred it to Canada, who used it until 1932. However, the City of Toronto owned the Fort from 1903 onwards.
Fort York was used as a military establishment until 1880, and again during the First and Second World Wars.
[edit] Units
Army units stationed at Fort York over the years:
British
- 13th Hussars
- 19th Light Dragoons
- Royal Artillery
- Royal Engineers (Sappers and Miners)
- 1st Regiment of Foot
- 6th Regiment of Foot
- 8th Regiment of Foot - current unit represented at the fort
- 15th Regiment of Foot
- 16th Regiment of Foot
- 17th Regiment of Foot
- 23rd Regiment of Foot
- 24th Regiment of Foot
- 29th Regiment of Foot
- 30th Regiment of Foot
- 32nd Regiment of Foot
- 37th Regiment of Foot
- 41st Regiment of Foot
- 43rd Regiment of Foot
- 47th Regiment of Foot
- 49th Regiment of Foot
- 60th Regiment of Foot
- 66th Regiment of Foot
- 68th Regiment of Foot
- 70th Regiment of Foot
- 71st Regiment of Foot
- 73rd Regiment of Foot
- 76th Regiment of Foot
- 79th Regiment of Foot
- 81st Regiment of Foot
- 82nd Regiment of Foot
- 83rd Regiment of Foot
- 85th Regiment of Foot
- 89th Regiment of Foot
- 92nd Regiment of Foot
- 93rd Regiment of Foot
- 97th Regiment of Foot
- 100th Regiment of Foot
- Rifle Brigade
Canadian Militia
- Royal Newfoundland Regiment
- Glengarry Light Infantry
- Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment
- Queen's Rangers
- Royal Canadian Veteran Battalion
- Royal Canadian Volunteer Regiment
- 3rd Battalion Military Train
- York Militia
- Royal Canadian Dragoons
- HM Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry
- 7th Regiment
- 104th Regiment
- 6th Westmeath
- 26th Regiment
- 56th Regiment
- 103rd Regiment
- Royal Fusiliers
- New Brunswick Regiment
- Irish Militia Regiment
- Cameronians Regiment of Foot
- West Essex Regiment of Foot
- Regiment of Foot
- Marine and/Navy
- Canadian Voltigeurs
- Royal Canadian Artillery
- Royal Newfoundland Fencibles
- Military Train
- 2nd Battalion of Provisional Militia
- 3rd Battalion of Provisional Militia
- 6th Battalion of Provisional Militia
- 10th Royal Grenadiers
- 48th Highlanders of Canada
- Durham Militia
- Enrolled Pensioners
- Garrison Battery of Artillery
- Home Guards
- Incorporated Militia
- Queen's Lancers
- Royal Canadian Artillery
- RCA Dragoons
- Toronto Calvary
- York Militia and Colours
- Toronto Field Battery
[edit] Fort York Today
Fort York now houses Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 period buildings. The fort offers casual visitors and booked groups a number of exciting services year round. During the summer months, the site comes alive with the colour and the pageantry of the Fort York Guard and is complimented with tours by professional historical interpreters. In the off-season months, the fort is busy providing educational programs for booked tour groups including school, scout, guide, and day care groups.
Fort York is also known as a site with a fair amount of paranormal activity, which is presumably attributed to its military history (and the associated deaths which took place there when it was attacked on various occasions by American forces during the War of 1812). Visitors have reported peculiar noises on the grounds and in the buildings, as well as sightings of apparitions of soldiers.
In the 1950s Fort York was almost torn down to make way for the Gardiner Expressway. Highway planners eventually rerouted the elevated highway to the south of the grounds, and the highway continues to be a visual barrier to Lake Ontario to this day.
The reclaimed land to the south of the fort are also in the process of being developed with new condo towers eventually limiting any possible reconnection with Lake Ontario.
The southwest of Fort York is Fort York Armoury, a two storey structure occupied by the Canadian Forces Primary Reserve; The Queen's York Rangers, The Royal Regiment of Canada, The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Own), and the 709 (Toronto) Communication Regiment and formerly 2 Field Engineer Regiment and the 1st Battalion Irish Regiment. The building is a training facility for CF Reservists).
[edit] See also
- Fort Rouillé - The first fort to be established in Toronto (about 1km West of Fort York)
Fort York Redoubt is a cannon battery built by the Royal Navy to protect Halifax, Nova Scotia.
[edit] Related links
- fortyork.ca - Friends of Fort York
- New Fort York
- Trinity Bellwoods Park
[edit] References
- Historic Fort York 1793-1993 by Carl Benn, National Heritage and National History Incorporated 1993
