Fort York National Historic Site

National Historic Site Of Canada; The 1793 Garrison Around Which Toronto Was Founded, Site Of The 1813 Battle Of York, And Holding The Largest Collection Of Original War Of 1812 Buildings Anywhere · Toronto, Ontario

Toronto exists because of this fort. John Graves Simcoe built a garrison here in 1793 to hold the entrance to the harbour, and the town of York grew up beside it. In APRIL 1813 an American force landed west of the fort, the British retreated and blew the grand magazine as they went - the explosion killed the American commander Zebulon Pike and a large number of his men - and the Americans occupied and burned the town. The buildings that went up afterwards are still standing: EIGHT ORIGINAL STRUCTURES FROM THE 1810s, THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF WAR OF 1812 BUILDINGS ANYWHERE. What makes it strange is the setting. The lakeshore has been filled in so far that the fort, which was built on the water, now sits half a kilometre inland under the Gardiner Expressway, surrounded by condominium towers, with the original shoreline marked on the ground outside.

250 Fort York Boulevard, Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

OPEN YEAR-ROUND WITH SEASONAL HOURS - a fuller programme with costumed interpreters, musket and artillery demonstrations and the fife and drum corps in SUMMER, roughly late May to early September, and REDUCED HOURS AND A SMALLER PROGRAMME the rest of the year, when it may open only a few days a week. CONFIRM BEFORE TRAVELLING outside summer. ADMISSION HAS RUN ROUGHLY CAD 9-15 for adults with children cheaper, and the site is operated by the City of Toronto rather than Parks Canada, so PARKS CANADA PASSES DO NOT APPLY. The Fort York Visitor Centre is built into the escarpment below the fort. Bathurst streetcar and the 511 stop nearby; there is a car park on site. The grounds outside the walls are open parkland.

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