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 1880's, the area west of Queen's Wharf was filled in 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.