1788 Plan of Toronto Harbour with the proposed town and part of the settlement (before Simcoe's visit in 1792)
Notice small area of only 10 blocks planned for town and lots marked out to the north of the town.
1793 Plan showing closer view of Toronto Harbour.
1818 Plan of Toronto Harbour.
This map shows Toronto in its early years, after the land had been surveyed and laid out in lots. In the middle is the Don River. Just to its west is the original town of York, pictured as a cluster of tiny squares. The fort guards the entrance to the harbour opposite Gibraltar Point.
Today the harbour is sheltered by the Toronto Islands, but originally the islands were a peninsula.
Over a dozen American ships, more than 1,700 soldiers defeated the defenders and burnt parts of the town (population 640). The Americans lost 300 men, many in the shattering explosion of the magazine at the fort, while the British lost 62 and had 76 wounded. When the invaders withdrew, they took the ceremonial mace from the Legislature of Upper Canada, a symbol of fealty to the Crown. It was returned in 1934.
"The flotilla of the enemy." Painting by Owen Staples (1866 - 1949): American ships just west of the entrance to York's harbour, guarded by Gibraltar Point to the south (right) and Fort York. Drifting smoke on the shore marks the Western Battery.
More stories about the history of Jarvis Collegiate, early Toronto and William and Samuel Jarvis.
Benn, Carl, Historic Fort York, 1793-1993,
Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto, 1993.
ISBN 0-920474-79-9