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Rose City Roots · Timeline · Chapter 3 of 11

Sandwich and the New Border

Historic Sandwich Towne streetscape
Historic Sandwich Towne. Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Place context for the Sandwich chapter.
1796 TO THE 1850S

When Detroit passed to the United States in 1796, the river became a border. The British laid out Sandwich as their new town on the south shore.

Timeline

  1. 1796 to 1797 A river becomes a border. Detroit is handed to the United States in 1796. The Sandwich townsite is laid out in 1797 as the British seat on this side. Sources: City of Windsor · Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage
  2. 1796 Fort Malden. The British build their new post downriver at Amherstburg after giving up Detroit. Sources: Parks Canada · Parks Canada
  3. 1798 The Duff-Baby House. Built for Alexander Duff at 221 Mill Street, it later served as a headquarters in the War of 1812. It is an Ontario Heritage Trust property today. Sources: Ontario Heritage Trust · Ontario Heritage Trust
  4. 1855 to 1856 The Essex County Court House. Today's Mackenzie Hall was the courthouse until 1963 and has been a cultural centre since 1985. Sources: City of Windsor · Canada's Historic Places
  5. 1857 Assumption College. Assumption College opens in Sandwich. It became Assumption University in 1956, and the University of Windsor was incorporated in 1962. Sources: assumptionu.ca · University of Windsor
  6. 7 May 1958 A museum in the Baby House. The François Baby House opens as the Hiram Walker Historical Museum, today Museum Windsor. Sources: City of Windsor · City of Windsor
  7. 1797 to today Walk Old Sandwich Towne. The City of Windsor's Sandwich heritage walking tour (2018) covers the town's surviving buildings. Sources: City of Windsor · City of Windsor

Connections between records

Links we found between separate records. Each one says how strong it is.

NEW CONNECTION · LOTS BEFORE THE DEED

Six people named on the 1800 surrender had already drawn Sandwich town lots in 1797, among them the McKees, Francis and James Baby and Alexander Duff (Lajeunesse, The Windsor Border Region).

How strong: Both primary records, printed; the pairing is ours. Internet Archive · Indian Treaties and Surrenders (Mapping Land Theft)

NEW CONNECTION · THE PAINTER IN THE HOUSE

Capt. James Van Cleve, who painted the Petite Côte windmill in 1881, bought the Duff-Baby House in 1879.

How strong: Corroboration of local sources. SWODA, Leddy Library · Canada's Historic Places

Pictures

François Baby house as in 1812 (Lossing sketch)
François Baby house as in 1812 (Lossing sketch). Baby's house at Sandwich, sketch by Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 (1868). Public domain.
'Col. Baubie Mansion' (Duff-Baby House), Picturesque Detroit 1893
'Col. Baubie Mansion' (Duff-Baby House), Picturesque Detroit 1893. Duff-Baby House, in Picturesque Detroit and Environs (1893), p. 82. SWODA. Public domain.
Assorted buildings in Sandwich, 1913
Assorted buildings in Sandwich, 1913. Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 1913, compiled by Harry Wentworth Gardner (Windsor: Evening Record, 1913), p. 28. Photographer uncredited. Public domain. Via Canadiana.ca / Wikimedia Commons.
Assorted schools and churches in Sandwich
Assorted schools and churches in Sandwich. Assorted schools and churches in Sandwich, Windsor, 1913. From Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 1913, compiled by H. W. Gardner (Evening Record), p. 29. Public domain. Via Canadiana and Wikimedia Commons.
Fort Malden, Amherstburg
Fort Malden, Amherstburg. Fort Malden, Amherstburg, 1959. Tourism promotion photographs, RG 65-35. Archives of Ontario, I0005674. Open Government Licence, Ontario.
François Baby House (2005)
François Baby House (2005). François Baby House, 2005. Madelyn De Valle, Windsor's Community Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Assumption College in Sandwich, a large brick building with a tower and gardens, 1893.
Assumption College, Sandwich, 1893. From Picturesque Detroit and Environs (1893), p. 84. The cornerstone was laid in 1855. The south wing seen here dates to 1875 and 1876; the college chapel, completed in 1908, is not yet built. Courtesy of the Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive (SWODA), Leddy Library, University of Windsor. Public domain.
Gauthier's Canal at Lagoon Park in Sandwich, with a small boat tied along the bank, about 1900 to 1910.
Gauthier's Canal, Lagoon Park, Sandwich, about 1900 to 1910. A small boat tied along the canal. Detroit Publishing Co. / Library of Congress, LC-DIG-det-4a22545. No known restrictions on publication. Source record
Augustus Adams standing in his front yard in Sandwich, Ontario, 1906.
Augustus Adams in his front yard, Sandwich, 1906. The file title is "Augustus Adams in his front yard, Sandwich, Ontario." From the Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, a principal source for Black history in Essex County. This page does not add a biography beyond the file title. Archives of Ontario, Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, F 2076, I0024810. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Source record
An 1852 coloured engraving in Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, titled View of Detroit, Michigan, from Sandwich, Canada, with a side-wheel steamer on the river.
View of Detroit, Michigan, from Sandwich, Canada, 1852. Published in Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, 1852, page 96, as printed on the page. The printed caption is "View of Detroit, Michigan, from Sandwich, Canada." University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, BL004050. Public domain (U.S.-published work, 1852). The library asks that the Bentley Historical Library be named in the credit. Source record
An 1837 print titled City of Detroit, Michigan, 1837, Taken from the Canada shore near the Ferry, with steamers on the river and figures on the Canadian bank.
City of Detroit, Michigan, 1837, taken from the Canada shore near the ferry. The printed title is "City of Detroit, Michigan, 1837, Taken from the Canada shore near the Ferry." The sheet also bears an 1837 copyright line. University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, HS19826. Public domain (U.S.-published work, 1837). The library asks that the Bentley Historical Library be named in the credit. Source record

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