The Gibraltar Point Blockhouse was a

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

that was originally built in 1794 and was located on Gibraltar Point at the western end of the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

. The first Lieutenant Governor of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...

, planned defences for the mouth of

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a natural bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or p ...

Fort York Fort York is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort housed members of the British and Canadian militaries and defended the entrance to Toronto Harbour. The fort featu ...

, along with the Gibraltar Point Blockhouse that was situated south of the harbour's entrance. In 1800, a storehouse and guardhouse were added, but the battery was destroyed in 1813 and rebuilt as a blockhouse in 1814. The blockhouse was two storeys tall, with the upper platform having no roof and with its floor consumed with a traversing carriage for a single cannon. An oven permitted supplying the cannon with " hot shot"—cannonballs heated so they could start fires on the highly-flammable ships of the era. The lower floor could barrack thirty staff. The blockhouse's walls were formed from two parallel wooden walls, with the gap in between filled with tightly packed earth. The blockhouse played no active part in the defence of York, when it was captured during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Most of the buildings on the Toronto Islands were destroyed by American forces at that time, excluding the

Gibraltar Point Lighthouse The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Hanlan's Point, the most westerly of the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Begun in 1808, it is the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes, and one of Toronto's oldest bu ...

. During peacetime, the barracks at the Gibraltar Point Blockhouse were used to quarantine seriously ill individuals. The blockhouse was in ruins by 1823 and removed by 1833.

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{{coord, 43.627774, N, 79.389535, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, notes=Coordinates of Ontario Historic Plaque., display=title Military forts in Ontario Buildings and structures in Toronto Blockhouses 1794 establishments in Canada Buildings and structures completed in 1794