Colchester is a community and unincorporated place in

Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario (census population 2,796,367 in 2021) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula, bounded by Lake Huron (includ ...

, the southernmost settlement on mainland

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and the southernmost point with the exception of

Point Pelee National Park Point Pelee National Park (; ) is a National parks of Canada, national park in Essex County, Ontario, Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsu ...

. It is located on the north shore of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, approximately south of the town of

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

. Colchester was formerly part of the Township of Colchester South and is now a part of the amalgamated Town of Essex within the

County of Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Colchester shares its postal code with Harrow as N0R 1G0. Europeans began to settle in Colchester in the 18th century. Many

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

s leaving the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

around the time of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

were given

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s in Colchester. One such Loyalist was John Snider of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. In 1798 Snider was given Lot 82 along the lakefront and built a home for his family just west of the village. As the oldest known structure along Lake Erie's shoreline, the house was completed in 1813 and a letter from the time indicates that men were working on the home's roof as cannons roared during the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, also known as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shores of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British ...

. A few of these loyalist families (Tofflemire, Kratz, Monger) were captured at Ruddell's Station in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

during the British/Indian raids under the command of Captain Henry Byrd in 1780 and taken by force north (~600mi) to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. After being freed when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, most of the surviving families went to Grosse Ile and eventually to Essex County. Most of these lands have been passed from one generation with some families passing them to up to their 8th generation. The area was also a destination for slaves escaping the

via the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

in the mid-19th century, and for

freed slaves A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

during and after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In the 1870s a church was built along Dunn Road by many pioneering blacks, and it was named Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. The church's cemetery still stands today on the western edge of the Road. Colchester was also the birthplace and hometown of railroad engineer and inventor

Elijah McCoy Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) was a Canadian-American engineer of African Americans, African-American descent who invented lubrication systems for steam engines. Born free on the Ontario shore of Lake Erie to parents ...

, whose work was granted 45 patents in the US. Today, in addition to its many lakeside

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

s, Colchester is home to several hundred year-round residents who have converted older homes and built new ones. Restaurants, a public beach, and a marina have been an important part of Colchester for some years now. The population is approximately 900. Colchester lies along the southernmost road on mainland Canada, County Road 50, and has recently become a tourist destination because of the nearby wineries, the beach and harbour, and the scenery of the area. The village is also home to Christ Church Colchester (Anglican) which has a long history dating back to the beginnings of Colchester as a settlement.

References

{{authority control Communities in Essex County, Ontario