I learned that in 1867 the City of Toronto acquired the
islands from the federal government, and the land was divided into lots,
allowing cottages, amusement areas and resort hotels to be built (including the
prestigious Royal Canadian Yacht Club). At its peak in the 1950s, the Island
residential community was
made up of some 630 cottages and homes, in addition to such amenities as a
movie theatre, a bowling alley, stores, hotels, and dance halls. In 1953, the Metropolitan
Toronto Council decided to remove the community and replace it with parkland
because construction of the Gardiner Expressway had removed many acres of
recreational land along the Toronto waterfront, and they wanted the Islands to replace
the acreage. 
Most homes were razed but for a few hundred and after years of
legal fights, Islanders are now allowed to stay in their homes. I was actually
expecting the islands to be ritzy as I was picturing the mansions of the
Thousand Islands in my head but most of them are pretty decrepit I
thought. 
After wandering around I was
fairly chilled so I sought refuge at St. Andrew’s by the Lake. To my delight
they were doing a mass at 10:30 so I decided to stick around for service. It
was so delightful!
Everyone said hello to me and the pastor introduced me and
welcomed me (I even got invited to stick around for a planning meeting for the
Strawberry Festival!). As service started, one of the parishioners passed me her
program and hymnal as I hadn’t picked them up. Communion consisted of us
walking up to the altar and standing in a semi-circle while the pastor passed
out chunks of bread. Despite only having about 12 people, it was one of the
nicest church services I’ve ever been to. I highly recommend it if you are
wandering around the Toronto Islands on a Sunday.
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| Ned Hanlan |
I continued my island wandering by walking over to the
Gibraltar Point Lighthouse.It is the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great
Lakes. I thought this lighthouse was really unique because it once stood on the
shore but over time sand has built up in front of it so that it now stands
about 100 m inland. Usually lighthouses have to get moved because of erosion
but this one was the opposite. It was a very cute little lighthouse. I then
made the walk over to Hanlan’s point to catch the ferry back (named for Ned Hanlan who was a World Champion
professional sculler). On the road,
there were several markers warning of a clothing optional beach. This struck me
as really funny because the Toronto International Airport is on one of the
islands and the flight path is directly over that nude beach.
Waiting for the
ferry I checked out Babe Ruth’s First Professional Home Run Plaque. In 1897,
the a stadium was built at Hanlan’s point for the Toronto Maple Leaf baseball
team. The stadium was rebuilt several times over the years, and in 1914, Babe
Ruth hit his first professional home run into the waters of Lake Ontario from
this stadium. In the 1920s the Maple Leaf team moved to a new stadium on the
mainland. I really enjoyed the Islands but I would love to
come back in the summer to experience them in their glory.
It was kind of weird to be
pretty much the only one on the Islands, in fact I was the only one on the ferry back
to the mainland at Hanlan’s point. It was now time to leave Toronto and head
back home. Outside of Hamilton, I stopped at the Spencer Gorge Conservation
Area to check out Webster and Tews falls. I was actually surprised at how tall
Tew’s Falls are (135 feet). 
The sun had finally come out and it was a really
nice spot to stop and enjoy. I headed back across the border (remembering to
stop this time ;) and made it home by early evening. It was a really great trip and it was so nice
to slip out of the U.S for a weekend.
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