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TORONTO — On a hot and sunny weekday morning, hundreds of people take the ferry ride to the Toronto Islands, filling beaches, paths and picnic areas that just a year ago were flooded by record-high lake levels.

At Hanlan’s Point, the quiet westernmost wing of the islands, visitors walk and bike past giant sandbags still lining the shore.

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Most of them are heading to the clothing optional beach. But those who stay on the path a little longer will come across a vital piece of Toronto history, practically cut off from the rest of the city.

The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse guided ships into Toronto’s harbour when the port was the city’s most thriving commercial asset.

Built in 1808, when Toronto was still called York, the lighthouse is the oldest building of its kind still standing on the Great Lakes and the second-oldest in Canada, Heritage Toronto said.

“It really doesn’t function as a lighthouse anymore, now they use electronic beacons to keep ships off,” Warren Hoselton, the City of Toronto’s Parks Supervisor for the islands.