Fort York
Fort York Map, 1812
Toronto was founded when John Graves Simcoe ordered the building of a garrison at present day Fort York in 1793. His aim was to provide a naval station to ensure British control of Lake Ontario if tensions continued to rise between the the Canadian colonies and the USA.
At the same time, he moved the seat of government for the newly created Upper Canada from Niagara, which lay on the border with the States, to the settlement growing up 2 km east of the garrison.
While Simcoe remained suspicious of American expansion, tensions between British North America and the newly formed Republic were easing by the end of the year and the garrison was never developed with heavy defences. Furthermore, Lord Dorchester, Governor-in-Chief, decided that Kingston would make a better naval station since it was easier to supply and was linked to Lower Canada.
Fort York quickly deteriorated and new barracks were built 100 metres east of the current site for the small garrison deemed necessary to support the capital. In 1800 the old site was recycled to become Government House, the residence of the Lieutenant Governor.
Simcoe suspicions were not unfounded however and over the following decade tensions mounted. In 1807 the possibility of war was allowed and in 1811 Major-General Isaac Brock upgraded the Fort. The current west wall and circular battery date to his time.
In 1812 the US declared war on Britain and invaded Canada.
April 27, 1813, a combined US army and naval force attacked York with 2700 men using 14 ships and schooners, armed with a total of 85 cannon. The defending force consisted of 700 British, Canadian, Mississauga and Ojibway troops under Major-General Sir Roger Sheaffe, and 12 cannon. Their first clash was on the beach but the Canadians were quickly forced to retreat to the Fort.
From the Fort, the Canadians retreated east and blowing up the gunpowder magazine as they went, causing great injury to the American troops and mortally wounding their field commander Brigadier-General Zebulon Pike.
The first battle had lasted 6 hours and cost 157 Canadian and 320 American losses.
The native allies withdrew to the forests and Sheaffe’s troops headed for Kingston leaving the local militia to surrender the town. For the next 6 days, the Americans looted private homes, destroyed supplies and burned down both the Parliament Building and Government House. They then left, only to return in July to burn the barracks and other administrative buildings.
As soon as they left, the British began rebuilding the Fort. By August 1814 when the Americans again decided to test the Canadian defenses, they were able to repel the attackers and a few months later, a peace treaty ended the war, if not the suspicions of Canadians.
The British Army continued to garrison Fort York in a lacklustre manner, tightening defenses only in odd moments of tension such as the 1837 Rebellion.
In 1841 new barracks were built just west of the Fort and in 1870 the new Canadian government assumed responsibility for the country’s defence including Fort York.
By 1880 the cannon and earthworks were considered obsolete and from then until the 1930s it was used as training grounds.
The City of Toronto puchased the site in 1909 and restored the Fort between 1932-34. It opened on Victoria Day 1934 as a museum which now houses the largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings.
The Buildings
The restored Fort York contains only some of the buildings that would have been around in the War of 1812. None of the 1793 fort survived and many of the other buildings deteriorated.
Old maps show how the fortified walls closely followed the shoreline of Lake Ontario. Over the years, the lakefront was used for landfill and the beach is now hundreds of meters south of the Fort.
Blockhouses
Blockhouse
The oldest buildings on the site are the Blockhouses. These fortified barracks were built in 1813 and incorporated such features as loopholes from which soldiers could fire at their enemy while remaining reasonably protected, plus an overhanging second story so that the men could fire down more easily.
Bullet and splinter proof, they also had a magazine in the cellar.
The 1813 blockhouses could house up to 160 men leaving little room for fripperies.
New brick barracks were built in 1815 and housed up to 100 people including soldiers, their wives and children. Not all married soldiers lived at the Fort; some chose to live in town. However, at least some men lived here until the 1930s.
The brick barracks were often used for other purposes, for example, the garrison school, among other things.
Beds
Officers Barracks and Mess
Fort York 1815 Officers Barracks
The officers barracks were built in 1815 and included accommodations and mess facilities for up to 8 unmarried men. Married officers were permitted to live at the fort but in other quarters, or could choose to live in town.
These barracks are brick
In 1838 two money vaults were installed in the cellars and were used to secure bank and government funds in times of rebellion.
Stone Magazine
Stone Magazine
An earlier magazine for storing gunpowder had to be re-purposed when the bomb-proof roof proved too heavy for the walls. In 1824, the 1814 East Magazine had its roof removed and a second story was added to create weapons storage.
In 1815 a new stone magazine was built. It could store 900 barrels of gunpowder under a vaulted root. The fixtures were copper to prevent sparks and a simple ventilation system kept the powder dry.
This map is based on the tourist map issued by the Fort.The buildings on the left were built after 1815; those to the right were built during the war.
- The 2 barracks on the far left were built in 1815 for ordinary soldiers. Just in front of them was storage for 900 barrels of gunpowder, and to the north of this was the officers’ barracks.
- On the top far right were the barracks for junior officers, built in 1814 and a 2 story building that housed up to 160 soldiers. It was fortified, bullet and splinter proof and loopholed so that defenders could shoot at the enemy.
- Just below these were the 1814 gunpowder store which was originally just 1 story high and below that a 2nd barracks for soldiers.
Fort York, Ontario