Fort York is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort housed members of the British and Canadian militaries and defended the entrance to Toronto Harbour. The fort features stone-lined earthwork walls and eight historical buildings within them, including two blockhouses. The fort forms a part of Fort York National Historic Site, a site that includes the fort, Garrison Common, military cemeteries, and a visitor centre.
The fort originated from a garrison established by John Graves Simcoe in 1793. Anglo-American tensions resulted in the fort being further fortified and designated as an official British Army post in 1798. The original fort was destroyed by American forces following the Battle of York in April 1813. Work to rebuild the fort began later in 1813 over the remains of the old fort and was completed in 1815. The rebuilt fort served as a military hospital for the remainder of the War of 1812, although it briefly saw action against an American naval vessel in August 1814.
Fort York remained in use with the British Army and the Canadian militia, despite the opening of New Fort York to the west in the 1840s. In 1870, the property was formally transferred to the Canadian militia. The municipal government assumed ownership of the fort in 1909, although the Canadian military continued to make sporadic use of the fort until the end of the Second World War.
The fort and the surrounding area were designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923. The fort was restored to its early-19th-century configuration in 1934 and reopened as a museum on the War of 1812 and military life in 19th-century Canada.
Name
The 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 their name from the settlement the fort protected. After new fortifications were built in 1841, residents of Toronto referred to the older fortifications as the Old Fort, in order to distinguish it from the new fort.
thumb|Fort York in 1804. Most of the fort's original structures were renovated or rebuilt at the end of the 18th century.
In late 1798, Fort York formally became an official British Army post, granting it access to funds reserved for military use. After the fort was made an official military post, a stockade was built around the fort. Many of its original structures were also replaced with new buildings, including barracks, carriage and engine shed, the colonial government house, guardhouse, gunpowder magazine, and storehouses. As Anglo-American tensions rose again at the beginning of the 19th century, Major-General Isaac Brock ordered the construction of three artillery batteries, and a wall and dry moat on the western boundary of the fort. The batteries were equipped with furnaces, allowing the batteries to fire heated shot, with further 12-pounder guns placed on mobile carriages used to respond to threats outside the fixed ranges of the batteries.
Simcoe's original proposal of using York as a naval base was also reconsidered during the early 19th century, with plans to expand the fort near Government House to accommodate a naval base. However, as the majority of the naval assets in Upper Canada were based in Kingston, the governor general of the Canadas, George Prevost, planned to make the move to York in phases.
thumb|Map of [[York, Upper Canada|York prior to the Battle of York in 1813. The fort is visible north of the harbour's entrance.]]
When news of the American declaration of war arrived at York, the regulars and military cavalry squad of the fort left for the Niagara peninsula, eventually participating in the Battle of Queenston Heights. While its garrison was deployed in the Niagara, Fort York was manned by the Canadian militia. However, it was apparent to the colonial administration that the settlement could not repel an attack without further improvements to its fortifications; something not possible due to wartime shortages.
Battle of York
The town of York was eventually attacked by American forces in April 1813. The attack formed the first part of Henry Dearborn's plan to take the Canadas by first attacking York, then the Niagara peninsula, Kingston, and finally Montreal. Fort York formed a part of the settlement's defences, which included batteries and blockhouses around the town and Gibraltar Point. After reports of approaching American ships reached the settlement, most professional troops in the area, First Nations-allied warriors, and some members of the local militia assembled at the fort. The regulars and militias stationed at the town's blockhouse were later ordered to reassemble at Fort York once it was made apparent that no landings would occur east of the settlement.
thumb|left|upright=1.25|The American naval squadron exchanges fire with the fort during the Battle of York
Most of the fighting occurred during the American landing, approximately west of the fort. Unable to prevent the landings, and repel the force at the western battery, the British-First Nations force eventually retreated back to the fort. American forces advanced east towards the fort and assembled themselves outside its walls, exchanging artillery fire with the fort. The naval squadron also bombarded the fort, having re-positioned themselves directly south of the fort's stockade. Recognizing that the battle was lost, the British commanding officer, Roger Hale Sheaffe, ordered for a silent withdrawal from the fort, and to rig the fort's gunpowder magazine to explode to prevent its capture. The two sides continued to exchange artillery fire until Sheaffe's withdrawal from the fort was complete. Because the British flag was left on the flagpole of the fort, the Americans assembling outside its walls assumed the fort remained occupied.
thumb|Death of US Brigadier General [[Zebulon Pike after the gunpower magazine at Fort York exploded.]]
As the gunpowder magazine contained 74 tons of iron shells and 300 barrels of gunpowder, a significant amount of debris was launched into the air once the gunpowder magazine was ignited and dropped onto the American forces still outside the fort. The following explosion resulted in over 250 American casualties, including Brigadier General Zebulon Pike. Fearing a counterattack after the explosion, American forces regrouped outside the wall and did not advance onto the abandoned fort until after British forces left York.
The fort was occupied by the American forces after the town's surrender. During the brief occupation, members of the militia were detained in the fort for two days before being released on "parole". The British dead were buried within the fort in shallow graves, although they were later reburied outside the fort after the Americans departed the town. Government House, already damaged by the gunpowder magazine explosion, was razed by American forces on 1 May 1813. Before they departed from York, the American forces razed several more buildings including most of the structures in the fort, except its barracks.
Rebuilt fort (1813–1932)
thumb|Map of Fort York and the settlement in 1814
Plans to rebuild the settlement's defences, including the fort, and the surrounding blockhouses were undertaken in the second half of 1813 to defend a four-vessel squadron the Royal Navy planned to station at York's harbour. Several structures were completed at the fort by November 1813, including the Government House Battery and the Circular Battery, each equipped with two mortars; with another two blockhouses nearing completion. The blockhouses were also designed to act as barracks for the town's garrison, in order to allow for the immediate garrisoning of troops in the settlement. Plans were in place to also build three martello towers between Fort York and Gibraltar Point, although those plans were abandoned.
thumb|Depiction of Fort York and its docks in 1839
At the onset of the Rebellions of 1837–1838, the garrison at Fort York was dispatched to Lower Canada, resulting in the fort only being manned by 10 regulars of the British Army. The fort was also used as familial quarters for regulars, militia offices, storage space, and as a training ground. During the Second Boer War, and the First World War, the fort was also used as a local enlistment centre.
On 25 May 1923, Fort York was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
Repurposing into a museum (1932–present)
thumb|[[Queen's Rangers (1st American Regiment)|The Queen's Rangers, a Non-Permanent Active Militia unit, parading in the fort during the inaugural year of the property's reopening into a historic museum.]]
In 1932, the municipal government of Toronto undertook a two-year restoration of Fort York, converting the fort into a historic site and museum. The city began to restore the fort to its 1816 configuration as a make-work program, and to celebrate the centennial of the incorporation of Toronto. A historical reenactment unit dressed as infantry soldiers, fifers and drummers was also maintained to support museum operations.
In 1949, management of the fort was transferred from Toronto Parks Division, to the Toronto Civic Historical Committee (predecessor of the Toronto Historical Board). Further restoration work on the site was also carried out that year.
Following the amalgamation of Toronto in 1997, museum operations fell under the city's Museum and Heritage Services. However, in 2000, Toronto City Council transferred management of the fort to a board of citizen appointees, separate from the other municipally-operated museums in Toronto.
thumb|The archery event for the [[2017 Invictus Games, held inside Fort York]]
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.
Grounds
thumb|Fort York and the [[Toronto waterfront to the south of it. The fort is situated along the city's original shoreline, with the lands south of the fort being formed through land reclamation projects.]]
Fort York National Historic Site occupies approximately of land. When the fort was initially established, it was situated along the Toronto waterfront. However, decades of land reclamation projects beginning in 1850 resulted in the fort being situated inland by the 1920s. The grounds is the property of the municipal government of Toronto and is one of several National Historic Sites of Canada not owned or maintained by Parks Canada. Completed in 2019, the two bridges are the first bridges in Canada to be made entirely of stainless steel. The cemetery was used for the interment of soldiers and their families from 1793 to 1863. A portion of the cemetery was later renamed Victoria Memorial Square.
The grounds of the national historic site, including Garrison Common, the military cemeteries, and the parkland is accessible to the public year-round. However, access to the fort and the visitor centre is limited by the museum's operating hours.
Fort
The fort complex occupies approximately of land, and includes the bastioned, stone-lined earthwork, and buildings within it.
The fort 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. Buildings that date back to the fort's 1813–15 reconstruction include the two blockhouses, two soldiers barracks, the officers' "brick barracks" and mess hell, a brick-walled magazine, and a stone-walled magazine. The contract to design the building was awarded to Patkau Architects, in collaboration with Kearns Mancini Architects in December 2009. The building was opened to the public in 2014, although was not completed until 2015.