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Defending Fort York
Historic site deserves a safe place from invastion
Historic site deserves a safe place from invastion
By Mike Filey
Toronto Sun
I'm often asked my opinion as to what is
the most important historic site in Toronto.
Without hesitation, I reply Fort York. But
there was a time when the powers that be
wanted the old fort moved. Why? Because it was in the way of the new
Gardiner Expressway.
But first things first. Why do I think the fort is such an important icon in
the history of our city? And why is it there in the first place? To answer
both questions we have to go back to the early 1790s.
One of the first things John Graves Simcoe did when he arrived from
Britain to administer to the needs of the new Province of Upper Canada
(Ontario) was to look for a place where his men could build warships.
There was no doubt in Simcoe's mind that these ships would be needed
to protect against the invasion by American forces. Having fought for the
English in the recent Revolutionary War, he was convinced that the
victorious Americans were more eager than ever to overrun Britain's
colonies in North America. Simcoe needed those ships to defend against
this threat.
After surveying the north shore of Lake Ontario, he selected what we
now know as Toronto Harbour as the place to establish a shipyard. The
location was perfect for his needs. With Toronto Island still a peninsula,
connected at its east end to the mainland by a narrow isthmus (the East
Gap wasn't created until 1858 when a monster storm breached the
isthmus), the only way an invader could attack the shipyard, and the
small community that had been established nearby, was to sail his fleet
through the only entrance that existed back then, a narrow channel at
the west end of the harbour.
This configuration made defence of the harbour easy. He would build
fortifications on the water's edge north of the channel with its cannons
aimed south towards the channel. Over on the peninsula, he constructed
a wooden blockhouse with its cannon also aimed at the channel. Any
vessel attempting to enter the harbour would be blasted to pieces from
both sides. The mainland fortification evolved into what we now know as
Fort York while that old blockhouse remains only in the name of
Blockhouse Bay located opposite the Hanlan's Point ferry dock.
While the invasion anticipated by Simcoe didn't materialize during his
tenure as lieutenant governor, war did break some years later. One of
the major battles of the War of 1812 took place in the spring of 1813
when American forces overran the fort at York (soon to be renamed
Toronto) and occupied the town for several days. This battle, and other
clashes throughout the province during the war, did much to define
Upper Canadians as a people not to be messed with.
In 1934, Toronto's centennial year, the fort now called Fort York was
restored with a great deal of civic pride. For the next few years it was one
of the city's most popular attractions. This pride was to be severely
tested in the late 1950s as work progressed on the elevated portion of
the new Lakeshore Expressway (soon to be renamed the Gardiner).
Officials wanted to put it right over the fort. However, many
history-minded citizens refused to accept that proposition, saying such a
structure would desecrate both the fort and the nearby military cemetery.
In an attempt to placate those opposed to an ugly, noisy highway over
the ancient fort an offer was made in the spring of 1958 to move the
historic site, lock, stock and blockhouses to Coronation Park, a grass
and treed area on the water's edge south of the Princes' Gate.
Metro chairman Gardiner, perhaps forgetting his early Toronto history
and the fact that years of landfilling had removed the fort from its
waterside location, went so far as to suggest it would be nice to have the
fort back on the water's edge where it belonged.
But concerned Torontonians would have nothing to do with his
suggestion. Eventually the highway designers were ordered to re-work
the right-of-way and, as a result, the old fort stayed put and the new
highway was moved.
The above article appeared in the June 25, 2006, issue of The Toronto
Sun.
Toronto Sun
I'm often asked my opinion as to what is
the most important historic site in Toronto.
Without hesitation, I reply Fort York. But
there was a time when the powers that be
wanted the old fort moved. Why? Because it was in the way of the new
Gardiner Expressway.
But first things first. Why do I think the fort is such an important icon in
the history of our city? And why is it there in the first place? To answer
both questions we have to go back to the early 1790s.
One of the first things John Graves Simcoe did when he arrived from
Britain to administer to the needs of the new Province of Upper Canada
(Ontario) was to look for a place where his men could build warships.
There was no doubt in Simcoe's mind that these ships would be needed
to protect against the invasion by American forces. Having fought for the
English in the recent Revolutionary War, he was convinced that the
victorious Americans were more eager than ever to overrun Britain's
colonies in North America. Simcoe needed those ships to defend against
this threat.
After surveying the north shore of Lake Ontario, he selected what we
now know as Toronto Harbour as the place to establish a shipyard. The
location was perfect for his needs. With Toronto Island still a peninsula,
connected at its east end to the mainland by a narrow isthmus (the East
Gap wasn't created until 1858 when a monster storm breached the
isthmus), the only way an invader could attack the shipyard, and the
small community that had been established nearby, was to sail his fleet
through the only entrance that existed back then, a narrow channel at
the west end of the harbour.
This configuration made defence of the harbour easy. He would build
fortifications on the water's edge north of the channel with its cannons
aimed south towards the channel. Over on the peninsula, he constructed
a wooden blockhouse with its cannon also aimed at the channel. Any
vessel attempting to enter the harbour would be blasted to pieces from
both sides. The mainland fortification evolved into what we now know as
Fort York while that old blockhouse remains only in the name of
Blockhouse Bay located opposite the Hanlan's Point ferry dock.
While the invasion anticipated by Simcoe didn't materialize during his
tenure as lieutenant governor, war did break some years later. One of
the major battles of the War of 1812 took place in the spring of 1813
when American forces overran the fort at York (soon to be renamed
Toronto) and occupied the town for several days. This battle, and other
clashes throughout the province during the war, did much to define
Upper Canadians as a people not to be messed with.
In 1934, Toronto's centennial year, the fort now called Fort York was
restored with a great deal of civic pride. For the next few years it was one
of the city's most popular attractions. This pride was to be severely
tested in the late 1950s as work progressed on the elevated portion of
the new Lakeshore Expressway (soon to be renamed the Gardiner).
Officials wanted to put it right over the fort. However, many
history-minded citizens refused to accept that proposition, saying such a
structure would desecrate both the fort and the nearby military cemetery.
In an attempt to placate those opposed to an ugly, noisy highway over
the ancient fort an offer was made in the spring of 1958 to move the
historic site, lock, stock and blockhouses to Coronation Park, a grass
and treed area on the water's edge south of the Princes' Gate.
Metro chairman Gardiner, perhaps forgetting his early Toronto history
and the fact that years of landfilling had removed the fort from its
waterside location, went so far as to suggest it would be nice to have the
fort back on the water's edge where it belonged.
But concerned Torontonians would have nothing to do with his
suggestion. Eventually the highway designers were ordered to re-work
the right-of-way and, as a result, the old fort stayed put and the new
highway was moved.
The above article appeared in the June 25, 2006, issue of The Toronto
Sun.
