GALLERY 1932–Present

OLD FORT, 8 DEC. 1932
City of Toronto Archives, Parks Dept. 1543

The stone lining the ramparts is not authentic; originally it was timber. But in restoring the fort in 1932-34 during the Great Depression, lining the walls with stone created more jobs. Today the stone helps keep maintenance costs down, since replacing timber linings every ten years or so would be relentless and expensive.

GALLERY 1932–Present

BLOCKHOUSE RECONSTRUCTION, 16 JAN. 1934
City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 70

Repairs are being made to Blockhouse No. 2 to prepare it to serve as a museum gallery. Seen behind it are a Consumers' Gas gasholder near Bathurst and Front Streets (left) and the Bathurst Bridge (right).

GALLERY 1932–Present

BLUE BARRACKS RECONSTRUCTION, 16 JAN. 1934
City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 70

Known today as the Blue Barracks, but originally the Junior Officers' Barracks, this long frame structure was cut in half in the 1830s and not rebuilt to its full length again until 2000. During the fort's restoration in 1934 it was found to be in such poor shape that it had to be taken down till only the fireplaces stood. It was then rebuilt incorporating as many of the original materials as could be salvaged.

GALLERY 1932–Present

RE-OPENING OF FORT YORK, LORD BESSBOROUGH, 24 MAY 1934
Charles A. Williams (1897–1962)
City of Toronto Archives, G&M fonds, 33489

Gov. Gen. Lord Bessborough inspects a cannon at the fort's re-opening in 1934 after restoration.

GALLERY 1932–Present

RE-OPENING OF FORT YORK, EXHIBIT, 1934
Charles A. Williams
Toronto Reference Library, T-34680

When the fort re-opened after restoration in 1934 this exhibit was in the South Soldiers' Barracks. Typical of its day, the room was presented as a tableau with mannequins and a mix of artefacts related loosely to the fort. By the 1950s some of these exhibits needed to be protected by chicken wire for security reasons and in one, a stuffed cat could be found.

GALLERY 1932–Present

CEREMONY TO RETURN THE MACE, FORT YORK,
4 JULY 1934
Charles A. Williams (1897–1962)
Archives of Ontario, F 1075-13, I0001786

At a ceremony presided over by Lieut. Governor Herbert A. Bruce on 4 July 1934, the mace of the Parliament of Upper Canada seized by the US invaders in 1813 was returned to Ontario on the initiative of President Franklin Roosevelt. On that occasion also a cairn was unveiled bearing two plaques: one in memory of those who fell while defending York on 27 April 1813, and another honouring US Brig.-Gen Zebulon Pike who died in the attack. Present at the ceremony was a detachment of marines from the United States gunboat Wilmington which had transported the mace to Toronto.

The memorial cairn no longer stands, but the plaques are on the stone wall of the south ramparts.

GALLERY 1932–Present

CEREMONY TO RETURN THE MACE, FORT YORK,
4 JULY 1934
Charles A. Williams (1897–1962)
Archives of Ontario, F 1075-13, I0001787

Four standard-bearers of the 28th United States Infantry face a memorial cairn dedicated during the ceremony on 4 July 1934 when the mace of the Parliament of Upper Canada was returned to the Province of Ontario.

GALLERY 1932–Present

JOHN A. McGINNIS, ca. 1950
Courtesy of McGinnis Family

From 1909 to 1949 Fort York was administered directly by the City's Parks Department. In the latter year Council established the Toronto Civic Historical Committee and made it responsible for the fort. In 1952 Brig. Gen. John A. McGinnis was appointed secretary to the Committee and first full-time Director of Fort York. Eight years later, when the Committee was succeeded by the Toronto Historical Board (THB), McGinnis became the Board's first managing director.

GALLERY 1932–Present

STANLEY BARRACKS, ca. 1950
City of Toronto Museum Collections

The New Fort of 1841 was renamed the Stanley Barracks in 1893 in honour of the Governor-General who had also donated the Stanley Cup. Today only the Officers' Quarters survive. From 1959 until 1998 they housed the Marine Museum of Upper Canada. The offices of the Toronto Historical Board were located there for many years too. Next to the Museum was the tugboat Ned Hanlan but when the rest of the collection was moved to the short-lived Pier Museum on the Waterfront it was left behind. The Pier closed in 2001 and its collections have been mothballed.

GALLERY 1932–Present

ST JOHN'S CHURCH, ca. 1950
City of Toronto Archives, Series 380

St. John's Anglican ("The Garrison") Church occupied the north side of Victoria Square for a century and a quarter from 1858 until 1985. The brick building in this picture replaced an earlier frame one. Soldiers from Fort York paraded to St. John's to worship. During the early 20th century it was a centre for the surrounding community, organizing Fresh Air Camps, medical and dental clinics. In the Second World War families living in Little Norway at the foot of Bathurst attended there, including that of actress Liv Ullmann.

GALLERY 1932–Present

T'WAS A FAMOUS VICTORY, 1958
James Reidford (1911–2001)
Globe & Mail, Nov. 25, 1958, Reprinted with permission

The Globe & Mail's cartoonist Reidford saw it as a pyrrhic victory when plans to build the Gardiner Expressway across Fort York were abandoned. The structure's columns would have stood within the walls.

GALLERY 1932–Present

OPPONENTS OF THE PLAN TO MOVE FORT
YORK, 1959
York University Archives, ASC04877

Opponents of the plan to move Fort York to Coronation Park attend a public meeting of the Toronto Civic Historical Committee, 11 January 1959. From left are Helen Durie, secretary of the Associated Historical Societies' Committee, Harriet Clark, Mrs. John Chase Green, and B. Napier Simpson, Jr. As often as Fort York has been under major siege by public authorities–three times at least in the twentieth century–it has been defended by citizen volunteers.

GALLERY 1932–Present

LOOKING WEST ALONG GTR RAILCUT, 1959
Courtesy of R.L. Kennedy, Old Time Trains

Looking west from the Garrison Road Bridge along GTR railcut towards the Strachan Ave. overpass in 1959, just before Gardiner was constructed.

GALLERY 1932–Present

37TH REGIMENT PEWTER BUTTON, 1973
City of Toronto Museums Collections

Pewter button from the 37th Regiment of Foot, found at Fort York. The 37th was stationed there in 1816–17 and 1825–26. British soldier's buttons are an archaeologist's dream because they kept popping off and are specific to the different regiments, whose service in a particular place can be known exactly.

GALLERY 1932–Present

WEDGEWOOD BOTANICAL DINNERWARE, 1984
City of Toronto Museum Collections

The type of artefact most frequently found in excavations at Fort York is broken pottery. Of the 250,000 items recovered so far almost 20% or some 50,000 pieces are fragments of ceramic plates, bowls, and serving dishes. These include rare tin and salt glazed earthenwares from the late 18th century, early 19th century creamwares and pearlware, and later, common white earthenwares.

Among the most unusual artefacts are the delicate tablewares found behind the Officers' Brick Barracks and Mess Establishment in 1984. The pattern is 'Botanical' or 'Botanical Flowers,' and drawings of plants decorate these distinctive dishes manufactured by the famous Wedgwood factory in 1800-25. WEDGWOOD is stamped on the bottom. The pattern is unusual because of its bright orange colour when almost all transfer-printed ceramics of the early 19th century were in blue, mimicking the hand painted oriental ceramics so popular throughout Europe in the Georgian and Victorian periods. Made of bone china, they are much finer than most other pottery found at the fort and show that expensive tablewares were used by regimental officers during their stay at Fort York.

GALLERY 1932–Present

ARCHAEOLOGY INVESTIGATION OF SOUTH SOLDIERS' BARRACKS, 2009
Courtesy of Ted Smolak, Arena Design

Archaeologist Andrew Stewart records findings from an excavation under the floor in the South Soldiers' Barracks.

GALLERY 1932–Present

89TH REGIMENT BRASS BUTTON, 2009
Courtesy of Kathy Mills

This rare brass button of the 89th Regiment which served at Fort York from November 1814 to February 1815 was recovered during the archaeological excavation of the South Soldiers' Barracks in the summer of 2009.

GALLERY 1932–Present

RECOVERED REMAINS OF THE QUEEN'S WHARF, 2006
Courtesy of Ted Smolak, Arena Design

In March, 2006, excavations undertaken to construct the Malibu condominiums at the northwest corner of Bathurst and Fleet Streets uncovered substantial portions of the pierhead of the Queen's Wharf. Some of the timbers were donated for display at Fort York.

GALLERY 1932–Present

SOLDIER'S TRADE EXHIBIT, 2099
Credit: Ted Smolak, Arena Design

Galleries dealing with aspects of "The Soldier's Trade, 1793–1870," such as the artillery, cavalry, music, and medicine, opened in 2008 in the upper floor of the centre Blockhouse. Substantial support for these exhibits was provided by the Ivey Foundation of London, ON.

GALLERY 1932–Present

GUNS RE-MOUNTED ON NEW CARRIAGES, 2009

The rapid rotting-out of timber gun-carriages exposed to the elements year-round has always been a problem at Fort York. In recent years to save on cost they have been replaced in some cases with iron field carriages cast from molds loaned to Fort York by Parks Canada, in others with aluminum carriages cast and painted to resemble timber.

GALLERY 1932–Present

HMS NANCY EXHIBIT, 2009
Courtesy of Philip Goldsmith

Lighting improvements underwritten by donations to The Friends of Fort York enhances the model of the Nancy on display in Fort York's Blue Barracks. The Nancy was sunk by US forces near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River in 1814.

For more information click here. 

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE FORT YORK GUARD, 1983
Courtesy of Scott Watson

The Fort York Guard and interpretive staff in 1983 stand in the north bastion.

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE FORT YORK GUARD ADVANCES, 1983

The Grenadier Company of the 8th (King's) Regiment of Foot (Fort York Guard) advances toward the Circular Battery. This promotional photograph was one of a series taken by and for the Royal Insurance Company early in 1985. Note the blockhouse has not yet received its cladding of white siding, sometimes called weatherboarding.

GALLERY 1932–Present

RE-ENACTMENT AT THE FORT YORK
FESTIVAL, 2000

For four years between 1997-2000 The Friends of Fort York organized a two-day festival each summer featuring re-enactments and demonstrations that attracted thousands. Probably this photo was taken on one of those occasions. The Festival on 1–2 July 2000, was the highpoint of these initiatives. On the first day five American tall ships bombarded Sunnyside Beach while 3000 spectators looked on. Then the vessels sailed off to Kew Beach with ten long boats in tow where 15,000 gathered to see a mock battle. On the second day all the re-enactors assembled at Fort York and re-staged the Battle of York. After the 2000 event The Friends decided with regret that such events were not sustainable, and took away from other initiatives, but they had left their marks by raising the profile of the fort.

GALLERY 1932–Present

SIMCOE DAY, 2008
Courtesy of Kathy Mills

Sections from the Light and Grenadier Companies of the 41st Regiment of Foot, Fort George National Historic Park, parade at Fort York on Simcoe Day, 2008.

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE FORT YORK GUARD, 2008
Courtesy: Matthew Blackett, photographer

GALLERY 1932–Present

SIMCOE DAY, 2008
Courtesy of Kathy Mills

Men and women of the Fort York Guard in uniforms of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, ca. 1814, on Simcoe Day, 2008.

GALLERY 1932–Present

ARTILLERY, SIMCOE DAY, 2011
Credit: Richard Lautens, Toronto Star

The Fort York Guard in their 1812-pattern service caps and barracks jackets fire a Light 6-pounder field gun on Simcoe Day, 2011.

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE FORT YORK GUARD, 2011
Credit: Richard Lautens, Toronto Star

The Fort York Guard dressed as members of the Grenadier Company of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry ca. 1814 fire a "salute" or Feu de Joie at 45 degrees, Simcoe Day, 2011.

GALLERY 1932–Present

ARTILLERY, SIMCOE DAY, 2011
Credit: Richard Lautens, Toronto Star

The Fort York Guard uniformed as Grenadiers of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, ca. 1814, fire a Light 6-pounder field gun, Simcoe Day, 2011.

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE FORT YORK FIFE AND DRUMS, 2011
Credit: Richard Lautens, Toronto Star

Fort York's Drum Major Baknel Macz is flanked by fifers Jaime Reford (l) and Graeme Sylvia (r) on Simcoe Day, 2011.

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE FORT YORK GUARD AT THE GARRISON BALL, TORONTO, 2012
Credit: Jennifer Roberts

In January, 2012, the Fort York Guard was on duty at the Toronto Garrison Ball held by the Reserve regiments at the Liberty Grand in Exhibition Place.

GALLERY 1932–Present

REMEMBRANCE DAY, 11 NOV. 2008
City of Toronto Museum Collections

A Remembrance Day service has been held at the Strachan Avenue cemetary annually since 1922. Organized originally by the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) the sponsors now include Municipal Chaper, IODE, and Toronto Culture.

GALLERY 1932–Present

CHILDREN HELP PREPARE FOOD IN FORT YORK'S KITCHENS, ca. 2005
Fort York Collections

The hands-on experience of visiting the kitchens at Fort York has always been a highlight of any school visit.

GALLERY 1932–Present

FOODS PREPARED IN FORT YORK'S KITCHENS, SIMCOE DAY, 2008
Courtesy of Kathy Mills

GALLERY 1932–Present

CHILDREN DRILLING, SIMCOE DAY, 2008
Courtesy of Kathy Mills

Drilling with a wooden musket is a seldom forgotten experience for schoolchildren visiting the fort. Former Chief Curator Dr. Carl Benn recalls the origins of this popular activity. For more information click here.

GALLERY 1932–Present

THE PLAY'S THE THING, 2008
Credit: Crate Productions

Fort York has been used on several occasions as a dramatic stage set. In 2007 Crate Productions presented The Fort at York, which transported audiences back to the fort on the eve of the Battle of York in April, 1813, to hear stories that might have been told as people waited for the Americans to attack the next day.