North America's largest urban car-free community
The Toronto Island Ferries
Getting to the Toronto Islands has meant a ferry since the 19th century — the only way to reach North America's largest urban car-free residential community, and the site of Babe Ruth's first professional home run.
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Our parks guide covers the Toronto Islands as green space. This page is about the two things that make them genuinely unusual: the ferry system that's the only way to reach them, and a residential community found nowhere else in North America.
Three routes, one terminal
The City of Toronto operates three public ferry routes — to Centre Island, Hanlan's Point and Ward's Island — all departing from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at the foot of Bay Street, running as often as every 30 minutes through the summer season.
Hanlan's Point and Babe Ruth's first home run
Hanlan's Point was home to a full amusement park and resort in the late 1800s and early 1900s, complete with roller coasters and a diving-horse act. It was also home to Maple Leaf Park, a baseball stadium — and on September 5, 1914, a 19-year-old rookie for the visiting Providence Grays named Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run there, a ball that reportedly sailed over the right-field fence and into Lake Ontario, never to be recovered.
Ward's Island: North America's largest car-free urban community
Ward's Island, named for fisherman David Ward, who settled there in 1834, and neighbouring Algonquin Island together hold roughly 250 homes — a genuine car-free residential neighbourhood, accessible only by ferry, that residents fought a 30-year political battle to preserve. In 1993, provincial legislation finally secured the community's future by placing the land in a trust, ending decades of uncertainty over whether the homes would be demolished.
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Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia — Toronto Islands
- Wikipedia — Toronto Island ferries
- Daily Hive — Toronto Island Used to Have a Baseball Stadium and Babe Ruth Hit His First Pro Home Run There