Queen's Wharf Lighthouse

Last updated
Queen's Wharf Lighthouse
Fleet Street Lighthouse.jpg
The lighthouse at its Fleet Street location
Queen's Wharf Lighthouse
LocationLakeshore Boulevard at Fleet Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates 43°38′09.2″N79°24′17.9″W / 43.635889°N 79.404972°W / 43.635889; -79.404972
Tower
Constructed1838 (first)
Constructionwooden basement and tower
Height8.5 metres (28 ft)
Shape octagonal prism tower rising from a basement
Markingsbrown tower, dark red lantern
Operator Toronto Transit Commission   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1861
Deactivated1912

The Queen's Wharf Lighthouse (also known as the Fleet Street Lighthouse, after its current location) is a lighthouse in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at Fleet Street just east of the Princes' Gates at Exhibition Place. The octagonal building was originally one of a pair of lighthouses built in 1861 at Queen's Wharf, replacing an earlier 16-foot lighthouse built in 1838. [1] The 11-metre (36-foot) three-storey wood structure is one of two surviving 19th-century lighthouses in Toronto (the other being Gibraltar Point Lighthouse).

Contents

History

The lighthouse, which projected a red light, was designed by the architect Kivas Tully, and along with a second, larger white light lighthouse, marked the entrance to the Toronto Harbour from 1861. [1] The two lights were lined up to guide ships into Toronto Harbour, which had a narrow and shallow (14 feet (4.3 metres) deep) channel over bedrock and shallow sandbars. The building is a bare frame structure and was never meant to be used as a dwelling by a lighthouse keeper, who stayed in a nearby cottage. [2] The harbour master's residence was also nearby. [3]

The shifting in direction of the deep water channel to Toronto Harbour necessitated the moving of the red light lighthouse in 1885. [4] Both lighthouses became redundant when a new western channel to the harbour was opened with a pair of new range lights (a short tower on concrete base and a taller skeletal tower) [5] and were deactivated in 1912. [1] The new range lights were destroyed by fire in 1918. By 1925, the Queen's Wharf Lighthouse was surrounded by new lands filling in the area around the Queen's Wharf, 1,400 feet (430 metres) from the water. [6] The other lighthouse was demolished but the Toronto Harbour Commission moved the remaining lighthouse to its present Fleet Street location in 1929. [7] The new location was on the northern approach to the old western channel. [7] Its ownership was transferred to the City of Toronto. [1]

The lighthouse currently sits at the eastern edge of the Gore park about one block north from the current shoreline and is contained within a small Toronto Transit Commission streetcar loop. [8] The building was listed in the Toronto Heritage Register on June 20, 1973. [9] The Historical Board of Toronto did some restoration of the lighthouse in 1988. The light is no longer functional. [2]

Fleet Loop

Fleet Loop
Fleet lighthouse loop wide clip.jpg
General information
Operated by TTC
Line(s) BSicon CLRV.svg   509    511  
History
Opened1931
Rebuilt1982

Fleet Loop is a turning loop, encircling the lighthouse, used for short turning the 509 Harbourfront and 511 Bathurst streetcar routes of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The lands are leased from Exhibition Place on a renewable ten-year term. [10]

When the loop first opened on June 22, 1931 it could only turn westbound streetcars back east. The loop was rebuilt in 1982 and reconfigured so that streetcars on Fleet Street could enter and exit in both directions, allowing them to return to the Exhibition Loop or loop-the-loop. [11] Passengers cannot access vehicles here and must board streetcars at a stop just east of the loop.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holland Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Holland Harbor Light, known as Big Red, is located in Park Township, Michigan at the entrance of a channel connecting Lake Michigan with Lake Macatawa, and which gives access to the city of Holland, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludington Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Ludington Light is a 57-foot (17 m) tall steel-plated lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan, which lies along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, at the end of the breakwater on the Pere Marquette Harbor. Given its location on the northern breakwater where the Pere Marquette River meets Lake Michigan, it is sometimes known as the Ludington North Breakwater Light. Underlying the building itself is a prow-like structure, which is designed to break waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Shore Boulevard</span> Street in Toronto

Lake Shore Boulevard is a major arterial road running along more than half of the Lake Ontario waterfront in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to 1998, two segments of Lake Shore Boulevard were designated as part of Highway 2, with the highway following the Gardiner Expressway between these two sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto streetcar system</span> Streetcar network in Ontario, Canada

The Toronto streetcar system is a network of eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the third busiest light-rail system in North America. The network is concentrated primarily in Downtown Toronto and in proximity to the city's waterfront. Much of the streetcar route network dates from the 19th century. Three streetcar routes operate in their own right-of-way, one in a partial right-of-way, and six operate on street trackage shared with vehicular traffic with streetcars stopping on demand at frequent stops like buses. Since 2019, the network has used low-floor streetcars, making it fully accessible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">509 Harbourfront</span> Streetcar route in Toronto, Canada

509 Harbourfront is a Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and connecting Union Station with Exhibition Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Traverse Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Little Traverse Light is located in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan on the north side of the Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan on Harbor Point in West Traverse Township near Harbor Springs, Michigan. It marks the entrance to the harbor at Harbor Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Light Rail Vehicle</span> Type of Canadian streetcar

The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) were types of streetcars used by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from the late 1970s until the late 2010s. They were built following the TTC's decision to retain streetcar services in the 1970s, replacing the existing PCC streetcar fleet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar Point Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Begun in 1808, it is the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes, and one of Toronto's oldest buildings. The lighthouse is perhaps best known for the demise of its first keeper, German-born John Paul Radelmüller, whose 1815 murder forms the basis of Toronto's most enduring ghost story. Recent research has verified many aspects of the traditional tale of his death and identified the soldiers charged with but ultimately acquitted of the crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Traverse Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Grand Traverse Light is a lighthouse in the U.S. state of Michigan, located at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, which separates Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. It marks the Manitou passage, where Lake Michigan elides into Grand Traverse Bay. In 1858, the present light was built, replacing a separate round tower built in 1852. The lighthouse is located inside Leelanau State Park, 8 miles (13 km) north of Northport, a town of about 650 people. This area, in the Michigan wine country, is commonly visited by tourists during the summer months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Haven Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The South Haven South Pierhead Light is a lighthouse in Michigan, at the entrance to the Black River on Lake Michigan. The station was lit in 1872, and is still operational. The tower is a shortened version of the Muskegon South Pierhead Light, and replaced an 1872 wooden tower. The catwalk is original and still links the tower to shore: it is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan.

The Waterfront West LRT (WWLRT) is a proposed streetcar line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The WWLRT is currently part of a City project called the Waterfront Transit Reset which also includes the East Bayfront LRT. The WWLRT was initially proposed as part of the Transit City plan to expand transit services offered by the Toronto Transit Commission that was announced March 16, 2007. The new line was to use existing parts of the Toronto streetcar system, extending from Union station to Long Branch Loop via Exhibition Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manistee Pierhead lights</span> Lighthouses in Michigan, United States

The Manistee Pierhead lights are a pair of active aids to navigation located on the north and south pier in the harbor of Manistee, Michigan, "Lake Michigan’s Victorian Port City."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Harbour Light</span> Lighthouse

The Toronto Harbour Light is an automated lighthouse at Vicki Keith Point on the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawas Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Tawas Point Light is located in the Tawas Point State Park off Tawas Bay in Lake Huron in Baldwin Township in Northern Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort York (neighbourhood)</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Fort York, also known as Garrison, is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located west of Downtown Toronto, north of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, and east of Exhibition Place along the shores of Lake Ontario. While it is home to Fort York, a National Historic Site, it also contains several mid and high-rise condominium buildings built during the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto streetcar system loops</span>

Turning loops of the Toronto streetcar system serve as termini and turnback points for streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The single-ended streetcars require track loops in order to reverse direction. Besides short off-street track loops these can also be larger interchange points, having shelters and driver facilities, or be part of a subway station structure for convenient passenger interchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dufferin Gate Loop</span> Bus station and streetcar turning loop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dufferin Gate Loop, also known as Dufferin Loop, is a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus station and turning loop for streetcars near the southern end of Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), the loop becomes a primary access point for visitors entering Exhibition Place via the Dufferin Gates. This west entrance to the CNE can be reached by the Dufferin Street bridges across the Lakeshore West railway corridor and Gardiner Expressway.

East Bayfront LRT, also known as the Waterfront East LRT, is a planned Toronto streetcar line that would serve the East Bayfront and Port Lands areas in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It would run from Union station under Bay Street and along Queens Quay and Cherry Street to a new Villiers Loop along Commissioners Street east of Cherry Street on Villiers Island. It would complement the existing 509 Harbourfront service that connects Union Station to Queens Quay west of Bay Street. Longer-term plans are to extend the East Bayfront line from Cherry and Commissioners Streets to the planned East Harbour Transit Hub along GO Transit's Lakeshore East line and the planned Ontario Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Barns</span> Streetcar maintenance and storage facility in Toronto

Leslie Barns is a streetcar maintenance and storage facility at the southeast corner of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has been built to house and service the majority of Toronto Transit Commission's fleet of Flexity Outlook light rail vehicles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Doors Open Toronto 2007: Queen's Wharf Lighthouse". Toronto.ca. City of Toronto. Archived from the original on February 13, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Unknown Toronto: Queen's Wharf Lighthouse" . Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  3. Boyd, J. H. (August 15, 1925). "Buildings Reminiscent of Early Toronto". The Globe. p. 13.
  4. "Toronto Harbour: Improvements and Alterations at the Queen's Wharf Change in the Range Lights a New Crib and Pier Prevent Further Damage". The Globe. April 21, 1885. p. 6.
  5. "Queen's Wharf Lighthouse".
  6. Boyd, J. H. (August 15, 1925). "Small, Ancient Lighthouse, Once Right on Waterfront Now Stands Far Inland: Recalls Days When Queen's Wharf Was Busy With Traffic of Great Lakes, and Steamboat Began to Displace Sailing Vessel Rests as Curiosity beside Boulevard". The Globe. p. 13.
  7. 1 2 "Ancient Lighthouse Guided 300,000 Ships; Now Cars Skirt Base: Beacon Built in 1861 Moved to Point of Gore Formed by Fleet Street end Boulevard Drive--Commemorates Pioneer Shipping, Marks Development of Toronto Harbor and Recalls Many Thrilling Tales of Shipwreck and Rescue". The Globe. November 27, 1929. p. 9.
  8. "Queen's Wharf a/k/a Fleet Street Light". www.rudyalicelighthouse.net. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008.
  9. "651 Fleet St". City of Toronto Heritage Register. City of Toronto. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  10. Dianne Young, Interim General Manager (April 7, 2000). "Renewal of Lease Agreement with TTC for Fleet Loop" (PDF). City Council report. Board of Governors of Exhibition Place. Retrieved August 25, 2014. This report recommends the renewal of the current Lease to the TTC of the lands known as the Fleet Street Streetcar Loop for a ten (10) year term, with an option for a further renewal of up to ten (10) years.
  11. James Bow. "Exhibition Loop and Fleet Loop". Transit Toronto. Retrieved August 25, 2014.

Further reading