25 Facts About Fort York

Fort York is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Fort York originated from a garrison established by John Graves Simcoe in 1793.

Name Fort York is a retronym, with the fortifications initially called the Garrison, the Garrison at York, or the Fort at York, the latter two taking its name from the settlement the fort protected.

Fort York envisioned the fort serving as the centre of a transportation network where British forces could be dispatched throughout the colony.

Simcoe planned for Fort York to be a part of a defence complex built around the settlement's harbour, with the fort situated north of another fortification planned at Gibraltar Point.

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The blockhouse at Fort York featured a cupola, used to guide ships into the harbour.

In late 1798, Fort York formally became an official British Army post, granting it access to funds reserved for military use.

Town of Fort York was eventually attacked by American forces in April 1813.

Fort York formed a part of the settlement's defences, which included batteries and blockhouses around the town and Gibraltar Point.

Fort York was occupied by the American forces after the town's surrender.

Fort operated as a hospital centre from the latter half of 1813 to the end of the war, with the naval squadron stationed at York assisting in transporting wounded soldiers from the Niagara front to the town.

Fort York was formally handed over to the federal government of Canada on 25 July 1870.

The last British imperial troops stationed at Fort York departed in 1871, alongside two Canadian militia regiments as a part of the Wolseley expedition.

In 1905, a proposal to build a streetcar through Fort York prompted historical, and military organizations to form the "Old Fort Protective Association".

On 25 May 1923, Fort York was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.

In 1932, the municipal government of Toronto undertook a two-year restoration of Fort York, converting the fort into a historic site and museum.

Fort York was formally reopened as a museum on Victoria Day in 1934.

Fort York was included in the City of Toronto's inaugural inventory of heritage properties in 1973; with the entire precinct later designated as a provincial "heritage conservation district" in 1985.

In September 2017, Fort York served as the archery venue for the 2017 Invictus Games, a multi-parasports event for wounded, injured or sick armed forces personnel.

However, as opposed to the rest of the historic site, Fort York Armoury remains in use as a drill hall and armoury for the Canadian Army, with the Department of National Defence acting as the custodians for the building.

Fort York itself contains eight historical buildings, seven of which date back to the fort's reconstruction from 1813 to 1815, while the eighth building is a reconstruction of a barracks that previously stood at the fort.

However, contrasting other blockhouses built by the British during this period, the blockhouses at Fort York included a cellar storage, and magazine facilities; although lacked windows on the first floor, deemed too dangerous to place in the blockhouses.

Fort York's buildings are surrounded by bastioned, stone-lined earthwork designed to absorb incoming cannon fire; with room for palisades to be placed on the earthen walls to prevent land assaults.

Conversely, New Fort York remained in use by the military until the end of the Second World War.

The majority of the New Fort York was demolished in 1951, although the new fort's officers' quarters still stands.

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