Fort York and Garrison Common Maps: ‘Old’ Fort York

What would we have done without Elizabeth Simcoe? While her husband, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, was attending to the heavy burdens of official business that came with establishing a province, she was recording its early moments in words and watercolour.

In May 1793 Simcoe made his first, brief visit to York which was considered much safer than Newark [Niagara-on-the-Lake] for the seat of government. Sites for the future town and fort would have been chosen then, or confirmed. When the first contingents of Queen's Rangers arrived in the latter half of July to begin clearing the forest, they'd have known exactly where to begin. The Simcoes followed ten days later to find an embryonic fort rising on the west bank of the Garrison Creek. It was named Fort York on Aug. 24.

Later, about 1798 when the green-timber 'hutts' that were built for the Queen's Rangers began to decay, their replacements were constructed on the east bank of the creek. Some important functions, however, like Government House and the Grand Powder Magazine remained on the west bank. When the American invaders attacked York on 27 April 1813, both halves of Fort York were burned. Rebuilding started later that year, but was confined to the site of the present fort on the west bank.