February 3 along the coast

Featuring Ward’s Island

David Ward, Sr., house (built 1856), Ward’s Island TPL

Ward’s Island, one of the Toronto Islands, was originally the eastern part of an old spit of land that the Anishinaabe called “Minesing” and the settlers called “the Peninsula”. It stretched from the foot of Kew Beach all the way to Gibraltar Point. The Ward family, David and his wife, first settled on the island around 1830. David was a fisherman at a time when the Peninsula was renowned for its fishing grounds. The Atlantic salmon schools were so dense that the slowed the 24-foot long canoes as the voyageurs paddled towards the Toronto Carrying Place at the mouth of the Humber.

The Wards raised seven children but tragically a sudden squall drowned all but the strongest swimmer, son William. William devoted the rest of his life to saving lives at Toronto Island.

William Ward built the Ward’s Hotel in 1882, just south of the ferry docks at Channel Avenue.