Why a historic Toronto lighthouse now watches over speeding cars and streetcar tracks
CBC
Once upon a time, Toronto's Queen's Wharf Lighthouse beamed a red light out over the rocks on the shore of Lake Ontario. Today, if its light still worked, it would show the way for a TTC streetcar.
You may have seen the small lighthouse, built in 1861, sandwiched between Lake Shore and Fleet Street and wondered: Why's it so far from the water?
"A landlocked lighthouse is pretty weird," said Meg Sutton, of Heritage Toronto.
But there's a somewhat simple explanation. The lighthouse was built on Queen's Wharf at the foot of nearby Bathurst Street, which was a growing commercial site in the late 19th century.
As those who were expanding industries in the city built out into Lake Ontario, the area west of the wharf was filled-in, and eventually, the old channel into the harbour could not be maintained.
By 1911, Sutton said, the lighthouse was rendered "unusable and decommissioned."
The Harbour Commission moved it to its new location near Fleet Street in 1929, where it remains today.
"[The Toronto Harbour Commission] said, you know, 'this is a beautiful piece of architecture, why don't we move it up?'" Sutton said.
Sutton says the tiny lighthouse building has a unique design that catches the eye, and it is so small the lighthouse keeper lived in a separate house.
"It's only three stories. It's really beautiful, though, when you think of its octagonal shape."
LISTEN | The story behind the mysterious landlocked Queen's Wharf Lighthouse:
Irish architect Kivas Tully designed the lighthouse, says Sutton. He also designed the Ontario Department of Public Works building in the city, "so it's kind of a really special beacon of history for Toronto to have."
The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario's website describes the Queen's Wharf Lighthouse as one of two surviving 19th century lighthouses in Toronto.
During its half century of operation, the lighthouse led an estimated 300,000 vessels into Toronto harbour.