The François Bâby House is a historic residence located in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, Canada which was owned by the prominent local politician François Baby. The house is a two-storey, Georgian style, red brick house once known as ''La Ferme'' locally, and was a French-Canadian

ribbon farm Ribbon farms (also known as strip farms, long-lot farms, or just long lots) are long, narrow land divisions for farming, usually lined up along a waterway. In some instances, they line a road. Background Ribbon or strip farms were prevalent in ...

which was a long narrow tract fronting endwise on the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

. The home itself has historical ties to the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

where it was used as a headquarters by both the American and British forces. Today, the François Baby House has been designated as a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

and serves as the current home of

Windsor's Community Museum Windsor Community Museum is a historical museum located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada which displays artifacts from Windsor. It is located at François Baby House, built in 1812 by François Baby, a prominent French-Canadian (which is now designat ...

, a historical

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

which displays the city's rich and colourful past.

Timeline

*1751 - November 24. Land including site of the house granted by Pierre Celoron, Sieur de Bienville, commandant at French Detroit, to Pierre Réaume. *1800 - December 19. Suzanne Réaume Baby sold the farm to her son François for ten shillings plus one grain of pepper. *1812 - Spring and summer. Construction of the house. Original front faced the

*1812 - July 12. War of 1812 opened with invasion of Upper Canada across the Detroit River. Baby house commandeered, unfinished, by American Brigadier General

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...

*1812 - July 13. Defensive works established around the three inland sides. American camp was located in Baby's orchard. *1812 - August 7. Hull's position had worsened, and he withdrew his troops to the safety of

Fort Lernoult Fort Shelby was a military fort in Detroit, Michigan that played a significant role in the War of 1812. It was built by the British in 1779 as Fort Lernoult, and was ceded to the United States by the Jay Treaty in 1796. It was renamed Fort Detroit ...

, directly across the river from the house. *1812 - August 15. Arrival of main British force on upper Detroit River, led by Major General

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he c ...

. Bombardment of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

began. Americans returned fire. *1812 - August 16. Bombardment continued, and Detroit surrendered to invading British, Canadians, and Indians. *1838 - December 4.

Battle of Windsor The Battle of Windsor was a short-lived campaign in the eastern Michigan area of the United States and the Windsor area of Upper Canada. A group of men on both sides of the border, calling themselves "Patriots", formed small militias in 1837 wi ...

, fought in the Baby orchard, ended the

Patriot War The Patriot War was a conflict along the Canada–United States border in which bands of raiders attacked the British colony of Upper Canada more than a dozen times between December 1837 and December 1838. This so-called war was not a conflic ...

, which had resulted from political disturbances in Upper Canada. Invading "Patriots" were largely American. *1850 - October 8. Fire heavily damaged Baby House. *1890 - The House had been converted to a double dwelling. Original north porch replaced by a full-width

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

. Pitt Street side became the front. Bay windows connecting porch, gables added to new front. * 1931 - House abandoned during the Great Depression. *1948 - Partial renovation. Additions removed, Pitt Street wall replaced. *1958 - Final renovation. François Baby House opened May 7 as the Hiram Walker Historical Museum. *1968 - Addition of underground storage and outdoor display facility

References

* "Mansion to Museum: The François Baby House And Its Times" Written by R. Alan Douglas, Essex County Historical Society, 1989. * Windsor's Community Museum

External links

Windsor's Community Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois Baby House Buildings and structures in Windsor, Ontario Burned buildings and structures in Canada Georgian architecture in Canada Houses in Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario Designated heritage properties in Ontario