Although little evidence remains for residents and visitors today, Harbourfront has a very rich history.

The entire Harbourfront area was created by lakefilling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was used initially for shipping and industrial activities. The lakefilling was undertaken in order to expand the City's port facilities, incorporating links between water, rail and road that would connect Central Canada to the rest of the world. Early commercial and industrial users included Harbour Brick, Tip Top Tailors, Canada Malting, Maple Leaf Mills, and the Dominion Shipbuilding Company.

In addition to its role in shipbuilding, military activities at Harbourfront included the Royal Norwegian Air Force's World War II flight training school, located on the lands where Little Norway Park exists today.

Recreational uses have also played a major role in the history of Harbourfront. In addition to the several yacht clubs and rowing clubs, Maple Leaf Stadium once stood on Bathurst Quay and was home to Jack Kent Cook's Maple Leaf baseball team.

Remants of Harbourfront's built heritage remain today, and include the Pier 4 and Pier 6 buildings on John Quay, which represent a style of architecture that dominated the waterfront during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Harbourfront is anchored to the east by the old Terminal Warehouse (now incorporating commercial/residential uses), and to the west by the Canada Malting silos, awaiting adaptive reuse.

Harbourfront continues to change dramatically, with industrial buildings, warehouses and dock facilities now giving way to a vibrant mix of residential buildings, recreational amenities, tourism draws and cultural facilities.

The Larger Cultural and Heritage Context

The rich industrial and settlement history of Harbourfront is set within the larger historical context of Toronto's Central Waterfront Area. The Economic Development Culture and Tourism Department has recently developed the Waterfront Culture and Heritage Infrastructure Plan for Toronto's Central Waterfront, that examines cultural and heritage opportunities along the central waterfront and establishes principles and objectives for development along the central waterfront of significant cultural and heritage resources. This plan is available for review at www.toronto.ca/culture/waterfront_plan.htm, and provides key information on the cultural and heritage opportunities at Harbourfront.

These opportunities include the interpretation of the historic Garrison Creek ravine system, which has its outfall to the waterfront at the Portland Slip. Buried in a storm sewer over a century ago, Garrison Creek still has a powerful presence in the public imagination. Within the Garrison Creek Corridor, Fort York is the most significant heritage resource. The Fort is both a nationally designated site and a designated heritage conservation district.

There are opportunities within Harbourfront for the creative reuse of structures such as the Canada Malting Silos on Bathurst Quay. On the eastern edge of Harbourfront, there are opportunities to support the arts, culture, and heritage programs that form part of the mandate of Harbourfront Centre, as well as historic Fort York.

The proposed John Street arts, entertainment and new media corridor finds its terminus at the easterly edge of Harbourfront. To the north of Harbourfront, the proposed Front Street Walks and Gardens corridor celebrates and interprets the original shoreline of Lake Ontario.

Strong linkages are also proposed in the study to culturally important destinations in close proximity to Harbourfront such as Exhibition Place, Ontario Place, the 229 hectare (568 acre) Toronto Islands Park, and the John Street Roundhouse (Roundhouse Park).