1816 Nicolls & Duberger Plan of the Fort at York, Upper Canada

This plan shows the fort as it was rebuilt after its predecessor was destroyed in the Battle of York, 1813. A souvenir of that event remains in the crater on the lakeshore left when the Grand Magazine was detonated on the orders of Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, the British commander in chief. A complete key to each of the buildings and outbuildings helps understand the scale of the establishment.

Click the map to view a full-size version:

Plan of Fort at York, Upper Canada, shewing its state in March 1816. [Sgd] Royl. Engineers Drawg Room, Quebec 16th Feby 1816, J. B. Duberger, Junr. Quebec, 24th June 1816, G. Nicolls, Lt. Col. Rl. Engineers

Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada: NMC 23139
Winearls, MUC no. 2039 (2)

When the Fort was eventually transferred in 1909 to the City of Toronto, it was on condition “that the site of the Old Fort . . . shall, as far as possible, be restored to its original condition as shown on the attached copy of a plan of it, prepared by G. Nicolls, Government Engineer, and dated Quebec, 24th June, 1816, and that the same shall be preserved and maintained in such condition forever.”

Nicolls’ plan is thus invaluable to our understanding of the modern Fort as a physical representation of our past.

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Next map: 1842 Biscoe: Plan of Fort
Back to: ‘Old’ Fort York