![Walkerville Ontario LOC det](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Walkerville_Ontario_LOC_det.4a19916.jpg)
Walkerville, Ontario, is a former town in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, that is today a heritage precinct of
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 souther ...
. The town was founded by
Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 – January 12, 1899) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He p ...
in 1890, owner and producer of
Canadian Club
Canadian Club is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by Beam Suntory. Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walker and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the nineteenth ce ...
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
. Walker planned it as a 'model town’, (originally called 'Walker's Town'),
that would be the envy of both the region and the continent.
He established a
distillery
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...
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, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...
and grew his business by growing grain, milling flour, and raising cattle and hogs. Later, the town supported other major industries, notably
automotive manufacturing. It was annexed to Windsor, July 1, 1935.
Architecture
Walker established homes for his workers, a church dedicated to his late wife, and a school. The town, which developed outward from the distillery, included buildings designed by
Albert Kahn, notably
Willistead Manor
Willistead Manor is a historic house located in the former town of Walkerville, Ontario, now part of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Willistead Manor was designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn in the 16th-century Tudor-Jacobean style of an English ...
, the home of Walker's second son, Edward Chandler Walker. Upon Walkerville’s eventual amalgamation with Windsor, the Manor became heritage-protected property of the city, being used as an art gallery and, currently, a function venue.
The neighbourhood is characterized by large houses, wide streets and abundant greenery. A three-story high school, carrying the name '
Walkerville', stands next to Willistead Manor. Other structures include former
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
’s home, Kahn-designed houses, the distillery (now belonging to
Wiser’s ) and the
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
station. The Tivoli Theatre (recently reopened Old Walkerville Theatre), is of 1920s
art-deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...
design by
C. Howard Crane (who would also design the
Fox Theater Fox Theatre or Fox Theater or Fox Theater Building may refer to:
U.S.
* Fox Tucson Theatre (Tucson, Arizona)
*Fox Theater (Bakersfield, California)
* Fox Theatre (Fullerton, California)
* Fox Theater, Westwood Village (Los Angeles, California)
* Fo ...
in
Detroit, Michigan
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 ...
). A large performance stage, ornate fixtures, balconies, and grating-lattice hint at the community's grandeur in those days.
Social and industrial growth
Divided into three sub-precincts, Walkerville was an amalgam of business, commercial, and residential land use, at times all nestled together. This cohesive character gave the community its uniqueness as compared to surrounding cities. Walker acted as self-appointed overseer of everything, including the
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
,
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
and
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
facilities.
During the period of
Prohibition in the United States
In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...
, Walkerville became a principal source of cross-border
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
exportation.
Hiram Walker favoured diversification and Walkerville welcomed many industries including the automotive industry. The
Ford Motor Company of Canada
Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited ( French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville ...
opened its factory there in 1904, followed by the
E-M-F Company
The E-M-F Company was an early American automobile manufacturer that produced automobiles from 1909 to 1912. The name E-M-F was gleaned from the initials of the three company founders: Barney Everitt (a custom auto-body builder from Detroit), Wi ...
whose plant was acquired by
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
in 1910
and which became the assembly line for right-hand-drive vehicles exported to the UK and
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
.
In 1929, the ''Financial Post'' reported that 500 of the town's families were supported by Studebaker,
"only one of its activities being the manufacture of motor cars. During the world war, great quantities of war material was produced for the Canadian and Imperial governments. Today, he plant
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
manufactures a line of 59 models of six- and eight-cylinder passenger motor cars, trucks, ambulances, and funeral coaches".
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
,
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
and
Seagrave
Seagrave is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It has a population of around 500, measured at the 2011 census as 546, It is north of Sileby and close to Thrussington and Barrow upon Soar.
Histor ...
were other manufacturers with plants in Walkerville.
Birth of the Auto
at WalkervilleTimes.com
See also
* Walkerville Collegiate Institute
Walkerville Collegiate Institute (WCI) is a secondary school (grades 9 to 12) in the Walkerville area of Windsor, Ontario and managed by the Greater Essex County District School Board. It is the home of the Walkerville Centre for the Creative A ...
References
Gallery
Image:Windsorwalkerandriverside.jpg, The corner of Riverside and Walker Road where the distillery still operates.
Image:Windsorwillisteadmanorpark.jpg, Willistead Manor, built by E. Chandler Walker and now a city park.
Image:Windsorwalkervilletypicalhome.jpg, Homes in Walkerville.
Image:Windsorhiramwalkerdistillery.jpg, Hiram Walker distillery
Further reading
Walkerville Times 2007
14mB pdf download containing historical articles and photographs
External links
WalkervilleTimes.com
Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive: Walkerville (Ontario)
History of Windsor
(including Walkerville)
{{Coord, 42, 19, N, 83, 00, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title
Neighbourhoods in Windsor, Ontario
Company towns in Canada
Former towns in Ontario
Alcohol in Canada
Populated places established in 1890
1890 establishments in Ontario
1935 disestablishments in Ontario