Fort York: Garrison Common

I’ve been here 2x before. One time during Canada Day celebrations to see the historic fort. The second time to see the Magna Carta — and boy was I geeking out!
The place itself is rather too small to host elaborate exhibitions. It’s a shame really because history repeats itself. Having a permanent historical centre with a rotating schedule of historical exhibits would enrich our minds. I guess at first glance, these exhibits have to centre around the UK, Canada and the Commonwealth. But oh what great pleasures we will discover if we expand it to see what similarities were happening in other parts of the world — or how other parts were more advanced than Europe.
Just a thought.

This review is not based on the historical aspect or the Museum itself. But how the ground was utilized to host cultural, arts, family and culinary events.
The location is quite accessible by TTC as Streetcar 509 stop right at the entrance.
Fort York though now surrounded by condo developments still have a decent view and since the ground has a lot of open space.
I would be back if any organizer host other events that would be of interest to me. And next time, I would even come back to visit the Museum.

This is a review for the park, not the historic site. Kinda strange that there is not a separate entry for the museum.
The park itself is very interesting. It contains the remains of a 19^th century garrison cemetery as well as unmarked American burials from the battle of York. There is lots of space for dogs to run around and its quite nice on a spring afternoon.
Also this spot also does concerts and outdoor shows in the summer, so look on Fort York’s website to see whats on.

There were drive in movies and now there are outdoor movies. We went to Fort York for an outdoor movie. It was outside on a field of grass. All you had to do was bring lawn chairs or a blanket to sit on, and snacks/​drinks. The area was quite large and was able to seat a large group of people comfortably (300+). Also washrooms were in close proximity which usually isn’t the case at times.
We watched Jurassic Park which was a movie I haven’t seen in quite a while. The Movie started at dusk and went on through out the evening. Once it got really dark, you could see the beautiful buildings of downtown Toronto. The CN Tower was especially beautiful with it’s bright lights that alternated colours throughout the night. Although we were here for purposes other then viewing historical monuments, Fort York was great. Overall if the weather is great, you will likely enjoy being in that environment.

What a lovely place! I love how smack down in the middle of the city the commons are, surrounded by highways, construction and homeless men with needles is a little piece of tranquil paradise, WITH porta potties!!! LOVEZ.
Went here for TURF (F**K YES TORONTO — YOU GO GIRL. So proud of my city). Everyone was super friendly, the staff was probably just hired for the festival so I can’t speak for whatever this place is when it’s not a music venue? But as far as the festival goes, they had free water, security, +19 hand bands, the acoustics were pretty solid for an outdoor venue.
Grass was green, sun was shiny, trains were hooting and we were partying in the middle of all this concrete and fast shuffling business men. Great memories, if you can see a show here I highly recommend.
If TURF is here next year, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend. Hell, go for all 4 days it’s seewwww worth it. Mingle with the hipsterest of them all. And me, fresh from my 9 – 5. It’s lovely.
Thank you, Toronto. Your mayor is a fat pig but you sure know how to throw a rockin, eco-​friendly outdoor jam.

This was a great way to spend an hour. Torontonians who know more about the history of Montréal or Quebec or Halifax should check this place out. Especially if you like old military stuff, this place is great. I mean, it’s no Vauban castle, but it’s *Local*. Right?

This Mueseum/​Historic Site is near the Exhibition place area. If one doesn’t follow the signs it can be misleading as the address for it has changed (its 250 Fort York now even though most of the printed material and street signs still refer to the old Address 100 Garrison). Location is accessible easily as its a street car ride and a little walk from the main hub.
Initial impression without even getting to the place was odd as no one picks up the phone! I called within business hours after checking on the website. When I arrived I even inquired about this bizarre approach to customer service and didn’t get a proper answer.
The land it occupies is decent sized but unfortunately there isn’t much to do or see IMO. Just some military barracks.
The saving grace is the LIVE show which reenacts the military maneuvers of the 18^th century. This are blank shots fired and even some canon blasts replete with smoke and military calls. Actually it explained the thuds I have heard when I have walked in this area always wondering what that noise was about (I am not sure how the people who live around here now think of it but I guess its the price you pay for trying to live near a lake).
There is a bit of insight on how things were kept at that time but if one takes out the show I would say not even an hours worth of stuff to see,

I think it is amazing how much we as Canadians /​Torontonians don’t know about where we reside. It is perhaps not the MOST outwardly interesting places simply because there is not a lot of razzle tazzle. I personally may hold an event there just to get more people people to this significantly historic place.

Fort York is a very special place not only for Canada, but for the whole North America, in general. Very few of those forts survived the past couple of hundred years, and even less of them are maintained in such a good shape today.
Lots of enthusiasts work is involved in keeping Fort York alive, and those guys are not just digging through the volumes of historic documents, but also pull out some pretty impressive reenactments — shooting the rifles and the old cannon, and marching with the old banners in a painstakingly recreated uniforms…
Probably the most valuable thing about Fort York is that its barracks and blockhouses, once burned by the enemy fire and now so quiet — turned into a museum rooms full of interesting artifacts, which are keys to understand the history of this continent. Lots of people with Canadian passport in their pocket barely have any idea about the past of their country — and forgetting the past is a sure way to get rid of the future.
So if you have any respect or interest to those who have built this civilization the way it is, you must visit Fort York. Canada starts here.

You know how you live in a city, and never really go to any of its sites or museums? I don’t want to be that guy, and I can literally see Fort York from my balcony, so this week I popped by to poke around.
Fact: Fort York is Canada’s largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings!
This place is often busiest on holidays such as Canada Day, but on a random Monday afternoon, it was very quiet. They did have uniformed British soldiers here to lower the flag at 4:30 in a formal ceremony, so that was neat. The families attending seemed to enjoy it. They can also take cool pictures of you with an 1812 cannon and that kind of thing. They have a schedule of presentations and tours that are conducted multiple times daily.
The exhibits of the soldier’s quarters and officers’ quarters was very cool (if you enjoy re-​created homes, complete with dishes and furniture). The archaeological information in the basement was very neat, and signs are posted in 6 other languages.
Fact: Fort York was used as a military training facility until the 1930s!
The artifacts on display in a couple of the buildings however were really shabby — not the artifacts themselves, but the actual signage and display cases. I mean, this is the ONLY museum I have ever been to where Bizarro comics are IN the artifact cases. A couple things were actually school projects, for real. Yay for involving the community, but boo for it looking a bit tacky and waaay tired.
I am going to give this place 4 *, because it is very interesting, well cared for, centrally located, and they are currently in the process of developing a new visitors centre, which will overhaul the somewhat disappointing displays.

A little bit of Canadian colonial history right downtown. I took a stroll through this place when I took a wrong turn during my jog and ended up learning a lot about the history of Toronto (aka York) and some battles against Americans and even when the current coastline and the islands in Lake Ontario will created.
Apparently on some days they have tours and reenactments of some kind. It offers period rooms according to the website but, but I don’t know what’s in any of those buildings or which ones are original and which have been added, but I’ll probably go back when I’m not in the middle of exercising to find out.
It’s small and there isn’t much doing on… I guess even on a good day. Rather blah as far as historic sites go because it looks totally restored… like it never saw a battle even though it was a pivotal point in three attacks on the area during the war of 1812. It’s always kinda cool to see 200-​year old buildings, but it was not the highlight of my day actually. Anyway, it’s right there off Bathurst so maybe check it out when you’re in the area.