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• French Settlement on the South Shore
  Windsor is the oldest known site of continuous settlement in Ontario. The government of New France, anxious to increase its presence on the Detroit River, offered land for agricultural settlement on the south shore in 1749. That summer, families from the lower St Lawrence River relocated to lots which began about 6.5 km downstream from here. Along with civilians and discharged soldiers from Fort Pontchartrain (Detroit), they formed the community of La Petite Côte. Additional...

• Honourable Alexander Grant 1734-1813, The
  Alexander Grant, son of the seventh Laird of Glenmoriston, was born in Inverness- Shire, Scotland. During the Seven Years' War he served with the Montgomery's Highlanders, eventually commanding a sloop on Lake Champlain. In 1776, Grant became Commander of the Great Lakes. This appointment, reduced to Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan in 1778, he held until 1812. With an estate at Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Grant served on the Land Board of the District of Hesse...

• Great Western Railway, The
  The main line of "The Great Western", from Niagara Falls through Hamilton and London to Windsor, was opened in 1854. The company extended its line from Hamilton to Toronto in 1855, from Komoka to Sarnia in 1858, and from Glencoe to Fort Erie (the "Loop Line") in 1873. "The Great Western" was an important connecting link for through traffic between railways in Michigan and New York states. This necessitated conversion from the original 5'6" gauge...

• Hull's Landing 1812
  On July 12, 1812, Brigadier-General William Hull, Commander of the North Western Army of the United States, landed with about 2,000 men near this site. He issued a proclamation stating that he came to liberate Canada from oppression. The British garrison at Amherstburg was too weak to oppose the invasion but later fought several skirmishes at the River Canard. On July 26, British reinforcements under Colonel Henry Proctor arrived and, on August 7-8, Hull withdrew to Detroit, leaving a small garrison near Sandwich which retired on August 11 at the approach of Major-General Isaac Brock.

• Jesuit Mission to the Hurons, The
  In 1728, a mission to the Huron Indians was established near Fort Pontchartrain (Detroit) by Father Armand de la Richardie, S.J. The Mission was moved to Bois Blanc Island and the adjacent mainland in 1742. In 1747 it was destroyed by disaffected Hurons and a party of Iroquois, and the next year re-established in this vicinity. The Huron Mission became the Parish of the Assumption in 1767 and was entrusted with the spiritual care of...

• William Dummer Powell 1755-1834
  The first professionally trained lawyer appointed a judge in what is now Ontario, Powell was born in Boston and educated abroad. He opened a legal practice in Montreal in 1779 and quickly gained a reputation as a brilliant advocate able to conduct cases in French and English. Powell was appointed sole presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas here in the District of Hesse in 1789. When the district courts were abolished five years...

• Catholic Colored Mission of Windsor, 1887-1893, The
  The first Roman Catholic mission for Blacks in Canada was established in Windsor in St. Alphonsus Parish in 1887 under the leadership of the Very Reverend Dean James Theodore Wagner. The "Catholic Colored Mission of Windsor" was created to serve disadvantaged Black children, while encouraging Blacks in Windsor to adopt the Catholic faith. It was first located in the original frame church building at Goyeau Street and Park Street East. With the support and partnership...

• Windsor-Ford Strike of 1945, The
  As wartime labour shortages eased in 1945, contract talks between Ford of Canada and the United Auto Workers in Windsor stalled. The 10,000 members of Local 200 went on strike on September 12 to win recognition of the union they had built during the war. When Ford had police called in to re-open its powerhouse, 8,000 workers from Local 195 walked out of other Windsor plants. For three days, strikers parked cars in this area...

• Battle of Windsor 1838, The
  Early on December 4, 1838, a force of about 140 American and Canadian supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie crossed the river from Detroit and landed about one mile east of here. After capturing and burning a nearby militia barracks, they took possession of Windsor. In this vicinity they were met and routed by a force of some 130 militiamen commanded by Colonel John Prince. Four of the invaders taken prisoner were executed summarily by order...

• Colonel Arthur Rankin 1816-1893
  Born in Montreal, Rankin moved to this province about 1830 and qualified as a deputy provincial surveyor in 1836. The next year he was commissioned as an ensign in the Queen's Light Infantry and captured the enemy's flag in the "Battle of Windsor" (December 1838). He commanded the Ninth Upper Canadian Military District 1855-1861 and the 23rd Essex Volunteer Light Infantry Battalion 1866-1868. Vigorous and enterprising, Rankin organized the group of Ojibwa Indians which toured...

• District Court House and Gaol
  When the British withdrew from Detroit in 1796, they transferred the courts of the Western District to Sandwich (Windsor). An abandoned blockhouse, relocated from Chatham, served briefly as the court house and gaol until fire destroyed it in 1797. Its replacement, built soon afterwards, was burned by American soldiers during the War of 1812. A brick court house and gaol, completed by 1820, served until 1856 when the present building was constructed. Designed in the...

• Father Pierre Potier 1708-1781
  The first Pastor of the Assumption Church, Potier was born in Blandain, in present day Belgium. In 1721 he entered a Jesuit college and, after pronouncing his final vows in 1743, he came to Quebec. An avid scholar, Potier began an intensive study of the Huron language at Lorette. A year later, he was sent to Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo) Island to serve the Huron Mission of the Assumption. In 1748 he moved with the mission...

• James Baby 1763-1833
  The first member of Upper Canada's French community to gain prominence in government circles, Baby was born in British-controlled Detroit, the son of a well-established trader. He was educated in Quebec and, after returning to this area, entered the mercantile business. In 1792, through his family's influence, he received lifetime appointments to the Executive and Legislative Councils, Upper Canada's pre-eminent political bodies. Three years later Baby moved from Detroit to the south shore and in...

• Siege of Detroit 1763, The
  Shortly after the founding of Detroit in 1701, a village of Ottawa Indians was established on the south shore of the river in this vicinity, and its inhabitants lived on friendly terms with the French garrison and settlers. However, after the British took control of Detroit and other western posts in 1760, relations with the Indians deteriorated. In 1763, the great Ottawa chief, Pontiac, raised a strong confederacy of Indian tribes and attacked several British...

• St. John's Church
  Following the cession of Detroit to the United States in 1794, and the withdrawal of the British garrison two years later, many residents moved to the Canadian side of the river where they founded the community of Sandwich. Early Anglican services were conducted there by Richard Pollard, sheriff of the Western District. In 1802, he was ordained a deacon and appointed missionary to the settlement. By 1807, a log church had been erected, but it was destroyed by American troops during the War of 1812. It was replaced in 1818-19 by a larger structure that forms a portion of the present church.

• Sandwich First Baptist Church 1851
  Eleven freedom seekers from the American south formed the congregation of Sandwich First Baptist Church about 1840, calling themselves the Close Communion of Baptists. It was one of three founding churches of the Amherstburg Baptist Association (1841), a cross-border organization of black Baptists that is still active today. Until 1847, when they built a small log cabin, members of First Baptist worshipped in homes and outdoors. To build this church, they hewed lumber by hand...

• University of Windsor, The
  The University takes its origin from Assumption College (Roman Catholic) established here in 1857, and directed by the congregation of St. Basil after 1870. From 1919 to 1953, it was affiliated with the University of Western Ontario, becoming co-educational in 1934 with the formation of Holy Names College. Achieving independent University status in 1953, with Essex College and Holy Redeemer College in affiliation, it became Assumption University of Windsor in 1956. Canterbury College (Anglican) affiliated...