Name of Toronto
John Graves Simcoe identified the area as a strategic location to base a new capital for Upper Canada, believing Newark to be susceptible to American invasion. A garrison was established at Garrison Creek, on the western entrance to the docks of Toronto Harbour, in 1793; this later became Fort York. The settlement it defended was renamed York on August 26, 1793, as Simcoe favoured English names over those of First Nations languages, in honour of Prince Frederick, Duke of York. Residents petitioned to change the name back to Toronto, and in 1834 the city was incorporated with its original name. The name York lived on through the name of York County (which was later split into Metropolitan Toronto and York Region), and continues to live on through the names of several districts within the city, including Yorkville, East York, and North York, the latter two suburbs that were formally amalgamated into the "megacity" of Toronto on January 1, 1998.
Niagara, Toronto
The ten block Town of York (later the St. Lawrence Ward of Toronto) was laid out by Governor Simcoe in 1793 with its southern most street, Palace Street (now Front Street), following the shoreline to the west where it entered Fort York on the west side of the Garrison Creek This original town extended from Jarvis Street to Parliament Street (now Berkeley) with the rest of the area south of Lot Street (now Queen Street) as the 'Garrison Common' (open government land); north of Queen Street were 'farm lots'. North of about Palace Street (Front Street) and Crookshank Lane (Bathurst Street), a burial ground was established for the fort. Just before 1800 the town was extended with a 'New Town' (now the Financial District) in the west using larger lots than in the 'Old Town' and extending from Jarvis Street to Peter Street. There was a military hospital at Niagara Street and Tecumseh across from Fort York.