Scadding Cabin (Heritage Walk)

saw this cute little critter on the fence

The Scadding cabin is Toronto's oldest surviving house.  It was built in 1794 for John Scadding during the first years of the British settlement.  He was a government clerk and a good friend of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe.  He also accompanied Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe to Upper Canada in 1792.

A lakeview

The original location of the cabin was on the east bank of the Don River on a 253-acre land grant that stretched from present day Lake Ontario to present day Danforth Avenue.  John had lived there until he went back to England with the Simcoes in 1796.

When he returned to York in 1818, he sold the cabin and the land to a farmer named William Smith who then used it as an outbuilding.  In 1879 the cabin was offered to the York Pioneer Association.

In an early act of Toronto heritage preservation, the York Pioneers dismantled the cabin and then reassembled it on the exhibition grounds as part of the celebrations marking the inauguration of the Toronto Industrial Exhibition (now the Canadian National Exhibition). In 1986, the cabin was designated as historically significant under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Fort Rouille and Shrine Monument (Heritage Walk)

You might have noticed along Lakeshore Blvd. (on the far western edge of the Exhibition Grounds) a modest sized monument about 8 metres high.  It was erected in 1986 and served as a depiction of Fort Rouille, a trading post from 1950 - 1759 when the threat of English invasion forced its destruction.

Built by the French in 1750-51, it was demolished by the French in a sad twist of irony.  Nine years later, a small-sized obelisk was placed to mark the spot of the Fort.  There was an excavation performed in 1979 -1980 by the Historical Society and again in 1982 by the Youth Committee which comprised of over 50 youths.  The excavating project was over seen by professional archeologists and funded by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Board of Education.

The sky was so temperamental and unpredictable, within an hour it went from mild sun, to wild snow and wind.   Made for interesting photos though.

Next to the Obelisk of Fort Rouille is a Shrine Monument, known as the 'Peace Memorial' .

Like the name, it carries a totally different symbolic purpose.  On June 12, 1930 the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine  presented to the people of Canada this bronze statue to commemorate over 100 years of peaceful relations between Canada and the United States.   The statue geographically faces the Niagara River, which forms part of the Canada-United States border.