New Fort York, later the Stanley Barracks, is a former British and Canadian military base in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It was built in 1840–1841 to replace Toronto's original Fort York at the mouth of Garrison Creek as the primary military base for the settlement. Unlike the older fort, many of the new fort buildings were made with limestone instead of wood. A protective wall was planned for the new fort but was never built. The fort was used by the British army until 1870, and the Canadian military subsequently used the fort to train troops for the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. It also trained one of the first regiments of the North-West Mounted Police. The Canadian military stopped using it after World War II and the fort was demolished in the 1950s. Only the Officers' Quarters building remains on the site.
History
British era
When the British set up the military defences of York, Upper Canada, a military reservation was created by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, roughly bordered by today's Dufferin Street, Queen Street, Peter Street and the lakeshore. Two 18-pounder guns were placed on the lakeshore just to the east of the future fort site, known as the Western Battery, to protect the approach to the harbour. Guns were also placed on the western shoreline of the Toronto Islands. The Western Battery guns were destroyed in the War of 1812's Battle of York in 1813.
As the old Fort York's wood buildings aged, it was determined that new accommodations were needed. In addition, private buildings were being rented in the town to accommodate soldiers. To finance the new fort, Lieutenant Governor Colborne approved the sale of some of the military reserve lands in 1833. It was not until after the 1837 rebellion that action was taken to start construction. Approval was given in 1839 by Lieutenant-Governor Bond Head to build a new fort to accommodate 300 soldiers, based on an 1833 plan drawn up by Lieutenant-Colonel Gustavus Nicolls.
A series of six stone buildings were constructed around 1840 by the Royal Engineers of the British Army with the biggest building being the Officers' Quarters. The two-storey Queenston limestone structure cost 19,000 pounds sterling. The fort also included two privates' barracks (holding 207 and 105 soldiers), a hospital, an officers' stable, barracks master's store, an engine house, gunpowder magazine and a canteen, all organized around a parade square. The original plan included fortifications surrounding the fort but as a cost-saving measure a cedar picket fence to enclose the fort was constructed, with fortifications to be added at some later time. A road was built between the forts, entering the new fort through a wrought-iron gate and passing under an arch in the eastern privates' barracks.
Although living conditions were considered good for the time, conditions during the winter were considered very cold, and keeping water from freezing was difficult. During the 1850s, the number of British troops at the fort was reduced, having been deployed in the Crimean War. Numbers rose again in the 1860s during the United States Civil War. In the 1860s, the space at the new fort was insufficient and The 13th Hussars were quartered in the nearby Crystal Palace exhibition building.
Transfer to Canada
In 1867, three of the British colonies, including the Province of Canada, united to form the new country of Canada. In 1870, the British Army withdrew from the Fort, with the property turned over to the Canadian Militia, the official turnover happening in 1871. The fort became mostly vacant, used only by a few military families for living quarters and the Ontario Rifle Association for training and exhibitions. In 1874, the new North-West Mounted Police used the fort to train a group of recruits for deployment in Manitoba.
In 1883, the Government of Canada established the first permanent force of the military and a new military purpose for the fort was established. After some repairs, the fort reopened in 1884 as an infantry school and base for the Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Company C, later named The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). The Company would see its first action the following year in the North-West Rebellion.
The rifle ranges of the fort led to incidents with passing boats and pedestrians. Bullets would occasionally hit boats if they strayed too close and two persons were struck by bullets in 1887. The Canadian military purchased land for a new rifle range in 1889 just west of Etobicoke Creek in Toronto Township, just west of Long Branch.