The Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse is located between Fleet St and Lake Shore Blvd W (west of Bathurst St) in the Niagara neighbourhood of Toronto. The lighthouse is encircled by the TTC streetcar Fleet Loop.
In 1837, to ease unloading supplies heading to Fort York, the British Parliament granted funds for a wharf to be built at the foot of Bathurst St. Known as Queen’s Wharf, it was completed in 1838 and had a small lighthouse. At that time, the western entrance of the harbour was the only channel entering or exiting Toronto’s harbour (the Eastern Gap did not exist until 1858).
Little Red & the Wharf
In 1861, the original lighthouse was replaced with “Little Red” or the Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse. Little Red had a fog bell, projected a red light, and worked in conjunction with a second lighthouse that cast a white light. When the red lantern was aligned with the white range light, that indicated to the vessels the approach to the harbour.
Little Red and the keeper’s house, which stood beside it on the wharf, was designed by architect Kivas Tully. Little Red is a wooden structure, and while square, it has trimmed corners giving it an octagonal shape.
With their red and white beacons, the lighthouses helped navigate more than 300,000 vessels into the harbour’s west entrance, past the sand spit and into Toronto’s port. At the time, their lamps were fueled by whale oil.
The lighthouses were in service until 1911. They were no longer needed as the new western channel into the harbour was completed. In 1918, the white range lighthouse was destroyed by fire.
The Relocation of Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse
For several years, Toronto’s waterfront had been undergoing lake-filling. In 1929, to save Little Red from demolition during the lake-filling, it was moved using wooden rollers and pulled to where it stands today – about 450 m west of the original foot of Bathurst St.
Little Red received heritage status in 1973. The lighthouse was restored in 1988, and today, the lighthouse is a medium brown colour with a red top.
Did you know?
Queen’s Wharf was originally going to be called Government Wharf or King’s Wharf, but because Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, the name was changed.
Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse Photos
Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse
“Now landlocked on Fleet Street, this Lighthouse once stood on the Queen’s Wharf. The wharf – originally known as New Pier – was built in 1833 to stimulate commercial activity in the west part of the harbour. This Lighthouse, constructed in 1861 on the north side of the west extension, was the second built for the Queen’s Wharf. Noted architect Kivas Tully, later architect of the Ontario Department of Public Works, designed its octagonal plan for what became, in 1911, the Toronto Harbour Commission. The Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse, along with a lighthouse farther west on the pier, guided ships safely into the western harbour. Beginning in the 1880s, the area west of Queen’s Wharf was filled with lake dredging. The old channel into the harbour could not be maintained, and in 1911, the Lighthouse was decommissioned. In 1929, the Toronto Harbour Commission transferred ownership of the Lighthouse to the City of Toronto. The Lighthouse was moved to its present site later that year.”
City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties – Heritage Toronto 2012
Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse
“This Lighthouse, was built in 1861, stood on the Queen’s Wharf 450 metres to the east, near the original foot of Bathurst Steet, and marked the only navigable entrance to Toronto Harbour at the time. It supported a fog bell and a red lantern which, when aligned with a white range light, indicated the approach to the harbour. In service until 1911, it became redundant when a new western channel was established. The Lighthouse was moved to this site in 1929.”
Toronto Historical Board 1978 (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1526, File 60, Item 4)
The Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse
“This Lighthouse was built in 1861 and stood on the Queen’s Wharf 500yds east of here. It marked the western entrance to Toronto Harbour until 1911. To save it from demolition during land filling of the waterfront it was moved to this site in 1929.”
Administered by Toronto Historical Board (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1526, File 60, Item 3)
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register: 651 Fleet St
- Heritage Toronto plaque
- Ports Toronto: 225 Years of Port History
- Lighthouse Friends: Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse
- Landmarks of Toronto: Volume 5 by J Ross Robertson (1908), pgs 45
- Photos: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photos: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Public Library & Library and Archives Canada
