A Cemetery or a park?

This Simcoe Day, we’re taking a look at a cemetery hidden in plain sight.

In the heart of Toronto’s busy King West Village sits a quiet patch of green that most passersby mistake for just another city park — but — beneath the surface lie the remains of over 400 people: soldiers, settlers, children—even horses—buried here beginning in 1793.

Victoria Memorial Square sits near the intersection of Wellington and Bathurst (west of Portland between Wellington and Niagara). A peaceful patch of green amid condos and traffic. This Simcoe Day weekend, the park was alive with families, dogs, and the buzz of city life. It’s one of the few green spaces left downtown—and it was hopping!

But few of those enjoying the sunshine likely knew what lies just beneath their feet.

Buried below are the forgotten dead of a British military garrison: soldiers, wives, children—even horses. All casualties of war and wilderness in this muddy frontier outpost. This is Toronto’s oldest non-Indigenous burial ground, founded in 1793 by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. Yes – the one that this long weekend is named after!

The first person buried here was Katherine Simcoe, John Graves Simcoe’s 15-month-old daughter, who died suddenly on April 19, 1794. Her grave was commemorated by a small marble headstone which was sent from England—but it has been lost to time.

This small cemetery would later hold a mass grave from the Battle of York, fought on April 27, 1813. The names of the fallen were never recorded. It may not have been only British soldiers—there is evidence suggesting Indigenous allies and American casualties were also buried here.

This cemetery was one of the very first civic institutions in York —laid out diagonally, in alignment with magnetic north rather than the colonial street grid. That unusual angle can still be seen in the footprint of the square today and really stands out when viewed from Google street view.

Originally, the cemetery stretched across nearly an acre and a half—roughly the block now bounded by Niagara, Portland, and Wellington. Its diagonal orientation set it apart as the city began to grow with the grid pattern we all know and love.

By the 1830s, in spite of still being an active cemetery, the land was absorbed into a grand but incomplete gentrification urban plan: a boulevard called Wellington Place, linking Victoria Square to Clarence Square. The vision never fully came to life but this small remnant of Toronto’s military past became engulfed with the rapid urban growth of early Toronto (incorporated in 1834 with its original Indigenous name).

By the 1860s, the Garrison Cemetery was full. In 1863, it was formally closed. It fell into disrepair. During the 1880s, the land was transformed into a public park. The dead were left undisturbed—but the markers were removed, the ground was leveled, and turf was laid. Memory faded. Use changed.

In 1902, the Army and Navy Veterans Association began a campaign to commemorate the site. It took years of fundraising, but on July 5, 1907, a new memorial was unveiled. It was the work of Walter Seymour Allward—yes, the same sculptor who would later design the Vimy Ridge Memorial. This memorial depicts a solemn, one-armed veteran of the War of 1812, holding his cap and wearing the George IV medal. His face bears the haunted look of someone who has seen the cost of war.

Over the years the cemetery and park fell into further disrepair. It was seen as an eye-sore sitting on prime real estate. In fact, the Federal government tried to sell it in the 1960s. What was to become of the cemetery? A major restoration began in 2009, led by the City of Toronto and a team of heritage consultants and landscape architects. This restoration included the installation of interpretive panels – an acknowledgement of its forgotten past. Archaeological monitoring that confirmed undisturbed graves below the lawn, no exhumations took place. The restoration treated the site as a place of active remembrance.

Today, the land is owned by the City of Toronto and forms part of the Fort York National Historic Site. It’s managed by Parks and Recreation and—despite holding the remains of over 400 individuals—is no longer formally designated as a cemetery.

A new revitalization project is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Toronto’s earliest dead. Still with us. Still remembered.

#DeadCanadians#TorontoHistory#VictoriaMemorialSquare#HiddenHistory#CemeteryInPlainSight