Queen's Wharf Uncovered

I might be the only one who gets excited about this old pile of wood uncovered at Fort York, but if you care about Toronto's history you might too. This summer, construction crews at the foot of Bathurst unearthed a significant part of Toronto's early waterfront. While digging the base of the Malibu condo project an immense interlocking pier began to reveal itself, hinting at the fact that Toronto's waterfront once began some distance back from where it now flows.

Everyday I passed and watched more emerge from the depths, wondering what would happen to it all. It seemed to slow construction for a little while but then one day it had all evaporated, and the construction trucks were back in business, hauling away the dirt. My heart sank. What had become of this major part of TO's history? Don't Torontonians care about their past?

On Canada Day weekend I ended up at Fort York and saw pieces from the pier beneath a tree. Friends thought I was nuts as I ran toward the pile, excitedly explaining the story ot the Queen's Wharf. We found a historian inside who validated my tale, and pointed to the lighthouse that now sits at a streetcar stop on Fleet Street as evidence of the early waterfront, which wasn't without its share of political battle then too. He added that the pile of old wood was indeed a part of the pier that no one had wanted. Much of it was shipped away but they were allowed to take the bunch. Now the question is, what'll they do with it? Have any good ideas? Let blogTO know.