History
A series of six stone buildings were constructed in what is now the Canadian National Exhibition grounds around 1840 by the Royal Engineers of the British Army with the biggest building being the Officers' Quarters. The two storey Queenston limestone structure cost 19,000 pounds and housed troops following the 1837 Rebellion.
Other features of the fort included:
- five smaller builds for troops and storage
- parading grounds
- stockade
British troops left the fort in 1870.
Troops stationed at the fort over the years:
- Royal Canadian Rifles
- Seventy-First Highland Light Infantry
- Royal Artillery
- Thirteenth Hussars
- Canadian Permanent Force
- C Company of the School of Infantry
- B Squadron, The Royal Canadian Dragoons
- The Royal Canadian Regiment
The North-West Mounted Police also used the facility for training in the 1870s.
New Fort York was renamed the Stanley Barracks in 1893 after the Governor General of Canada at that time, Lord Stanley of Preston (of hockey's Stanley Cup fame).
During World War I, the barracks housed German, Austro-Hungarian, and Turkish citizens, who were interned there as enemy aliens. The barracks were last used during World War II when the Canadian troops were stationed there prior to being sent overseas. All the fort's buildings and other exhibition building housed the troops.
Read more about this topic: New Fort York
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