Toronto Harbour

[
Toronto Harbour at dusk, facing North. To the West of the CN Tower, there is the SkyDome.] Toronto Harbour is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. It is a commercial port on the Great Lakes as well as a recreational harbour. Waterfront uses include shipping, residential, recreational and cultural.

History

Originally a low sandy peninsula formed the southern limit of the bay. The mouth of the harbour pointed west. The eastern shore of the bay, approximately six kilometres east, was a marsh around the mouth of the Don River. Low sandy bluffs lined the northern shore.

In 1858 a storm washed a channel through the eastern edge of the peninsula that formed the south edge of the bay, forming the Toronto Islands.As the city of Toronto grew the northern shore of the bay has been altered by landfill, and has been moved approximately 500 meters south. In addition to the Don River a number of smaller creeks flowed into the bay.

The original site of the town of York had half a dozen short creeks that flowed through it. As the town developed they all became polluted, and were buried. As the city grew the larger two creeks, Taddle Creek and Garrison Creek, were also filled in.

The Scarborough Bluffs are much larger bluffs that lie approximately ten kilometres east of the harbour. Strong lake currents over time washed the sand eroded from the bluffs westwards to form the bay.

Fort York, on the north shore of the bay, near the mouth of Garrison Creek, guarded the harbour's mouth. It was briefly captured by American forces during the War of 1812.

Port of Toronto

Toronto Harbour is both a commercial port and a recreation area. Commercial activities are confined mainly to the harbour's eastern side, while the western side has been developed into Harbourfront, a project designed to afford people access to their once forbidding, industrialized harbour. Harbourfront now has parks, hotels, an amphitheatre, and many other facilities. The Toronto Islands are also mostly recreational, although they do also contain a small community and the Toronto City Centre Airport.

Toronto also has a second harbour, called the Outer Harbour (Toronto Harbour is sometimes called the Inner Harbour), but it never developed into a commercially viable project. It was created in the 1950s by the Toronto Harbour Commission through the construction of a new breakwater called the Outer Harbour East Headland. At that time, it was expected that there would be a great upswing in the number of ships calling at Toronto once the Saint Lawrence Seaway opened. However, the need for an extra harbour never materialized, and private boats are the only traffic usually found there now.

Rochester Ferry service

In June 2004, the company Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS) began regular passenger/vehicle ferry service between Pier 52 and Rochester, New York using the vessel "Spirit of Ontario I". The service used a marketing name called "The Breeze". While Rochester had a custom-built ferry terminal, the Toronto terminal was a temporary facility, near the end of Cherry Street for security and customs screening facilities while a permanent marine passenger terminal was still under consideration for construction. CATS discontinued the service after only 11 weeks; among the problems cited was the absence of a permanent marine passenger terminal in Toronto and literally no Canadian interest in the service. The Toronto Economic Development Corp (TEDCO) was not properly consulted by the American interests who combined with the Mayor saw little political favour in seeing the project through from the City of Toronto's point of view. The vessel was sold in a bankruptcy sale in February 2005 to Rochester Ferry Company LLC, a subsidiary of the City of Rochester. In April 2005, Rochester Ferry Company LLC announced that the Rochester-Toronto ferry service using "Spirit of Ontario I" would return, operated by Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited and using the marketing name "The Cat". The Toronto Port Authority officially opened the International Marine Passenger Terminal on June 27, 2005, three days before ferry service resumed. [ [http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050628/NEWS01/506280334/-1/SPECIALS0201 | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle ] ] Even with impressive passenger numbers by the winter of 2006 the ferry service lost funding from the City of Rochester and announced that it would no longer be in business.

Wharfs and Piers

Wharfs existed along Toronto's waterfront in the 19th Century, but they have since been replaced by quays. Most of the former wharfs disappeared when the waterfront was filled in along with the now "missing" Creeks of Toronto.

A list of former wharfs along the central waterfront:

* Dufferin Street Wharf
* Queen's Wharf - Bathurst Street
* Conner's Wharf - York Street
* Millous Wharf - Yonge Street
* Hamilton Wharf - Church Street
* Sylvester Brothers and Hickman's Wharf - Church Street
* Northern Railway Wharf and Elevator - Portland Street
* Taylor's Wharf - George Street
* Hogarty and Grussett Wharf and Elevator - Simcoe Street
* Walsh and Love's Wharf - Simcoe Street
* Tinning's Wharf - York Street
* Higginbotham's Wharf - Yonge Street
* Manson's Wharf - Market Street
* Toronto and Northern Railway Wharf - Berkerley Street
* Gooderham's Wharf and Elevator - Don River

A list of current quays/slips along the waterfront:

* Bathurst Quay
* Maple Leaf Quay
* John Quay
* York Quay
* Queen's Quay
* Yonge Quay
* Rees St. Slip
* Simcoe St. Slip

hips of Toronto Harbour

* tug Ned Hanlan II
* tug M. R. Kane (tugboat) - originally Tanac-V246 and purchased by Toronto Drydock Company
* William Lyon Mackenzie (fireboat)
* CCGC Sora
* Toronto Island ferry services
** William Inglis
** Sam McBride
** Thomas Rennie
** Ongiara
** Maple City
** Windmill Point
** TCCA1
** Triullium

Geology

The makeup of the soil between the mainland and the island varies:

* Stone near the Western Gap
* Mud near the north shore, mouth of the Don River
* Sand near the airport and western parts of the island's north shore
* Clay near the centre of the harbour

Gaasyendietha

Gaasyendietha is Toronto's legendary Loch Ness Monster and it is sometimes spotted in Lake Ontario and even within the Toronto Harbour. The story of Gaasyendietha is a Native Canadian myth from the Seneca nation tribe.

ee also

*Keating Channel
*SS Noronic
*Toronto waterfront
*Toronto foot Authority
*Toronto City Centre Airport