François Bâby House · Photo: Windsor's Communiy Museum · Public domain

8historic places on the registers

History of Windsor · Canada’s heritage registers

Windsor’s record starts in 1798 with Duff Baby House

Windsor has kept more old homes than most towns: 39% were built before 1961, against 18%. Inside the town the registers count 8 historic places; 2 are top designations. The list takes in 6 provincial or municipal listings. Wikidata knows 78 more provincial or municipal listings here that get no page, lacking an open statement or an encyclopedia article.

8photos 2highest designations 1798oldest building

Historic places

Highest designations

National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings

Provincial and local listings

provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article

Oldest building

1798

the first construction date on its record

Homes built before 1961

39%

typical town: 18%

In pictures

Windsor’s 2 highest designations, each in a photo

Begin with François Bâby House, then Sandwich First Baptist Church. Every place on Windsor’s registers has a photo here. On their own pages, 2 of Windsor’s places show how they once looked.

Sandwich First Baptist Church

Church of Our Lady of the Assumption

Willistead Manor

Essex County Court House

Mt. Zion Church of God in Christ+3See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Through time

The past of Windsor, 1840 to 1942

8 old photographs of the town and the oldest views of 2 of its historic places, in date order. Scroll the strip and tap a picture to open it.

Before ConfederationCurrent photograph of the Sandwich First Baptist Church, which housed the schoolPhoto: Ontario Heritage Trust · CC0

Boom yearsPostcard of a streetcar, on London Street, in Windsor Ontario, in 1912Public domain

E. C. Walker House (Willistead Manor) in Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 1913, p76 — Boom yearsE. C. Walker House (Willistead Manor) in Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario, Canada,…Photo: Compiled by Harry Wentworth Gardner; photographer uncredited · Public domain

The wars and betweenAnonymous, Drouillard Road, 1920sPublic domain

The wars and betweenFord Motor Plant from an Aeroplane (HS85-10-37671) originalPhoto: Canadian Postcard Company · Public domain

Bird's Eye View of Windsor, Ontario, by the Peerless Specialty Co., postmarked 1930-08-28 — The wars and betweenBird's Eye View of Windsor, Ontario, by the Peerless Specialty Co., postmarked …Photo: Peerless Specialty Company · Public domain

The wars and betweenView of Kenilworth Park showing track and grandstand in 1930Photo: Post Card & Greeting Card Co. Ltd · Public domain

The wars and betweenNierozpoznany budynek w Wielkiej Brytanii (21-262)Public domain

Public domain or CC0, made before 1950, from Wikimedia Commons; old views of places can be drawings, prints or maps of their time. Each credit opens the image’s page.

How old

For Windsor, most dated places belong to the years before Confederation

Each place by the first construction date on its record.

British North America 1760–18665

After Confederation 1867–19132

Wars and Depression 1914–19451

Since 1946 1946 on0

Before 1867: 5 of the 8 with a date.

How it began

Windsor on record since 1749

Windsor Michigan Central Railroad Depot, the earliest station on record, opened in 1911. The date Wikidata keeps for Windsor is 1749; whether it was a founding or a legal act, the entry leaves open. The municipality of Windsor was incorporated as a village in 1854 and a town in 1858.

How it began: Wikidata (CC0); dates read from English Wikipedia’s article “Windsor, Ontario”, revision 1384532384 (CC BY-SA 4.0), and stated in our own words.

The map

Where Windsor’s history is

Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.

Highest designationsProvincial and local listings

Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.

The 8, by tier

2 Highest designations6 Provincial and local listings

Most entries are federal, from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations; local listings outside Québec are known only through Wikidata items with an article.

Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.

Highest designations

2 places in Windsor with the highest designation

Designations came from 1950 to 2000. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. The oldest, François Bâby House, dates from 1811; the newest from 1851. Each one opens its own page.

National Historic Site · 1811–1812François Bâby House254 Pitt Street WestPhoto: Windsor's Communiy Museum · Public domain · Commons file

National Historic Site · 1851–1852Sandwich First Baptist Church3652 Peter StreetPhoto: jodelli · CC BY 2.0 · Commons file

What’s designated

Windsor’s record leans to houses: 50%

Second on the list: churches and religious buildings, 3 of them. Leading by designation: François Bâby House and Sandwich First Baptist Church.

Houses4

Churches and religious buildings3

Public buildings1

Each place sits in one group, from its name first, then the uses its register lists.

Provincial and local listings

6 more places Windsor or its province protects

Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. The oldest, Duff Baby House, dates from 1798; the newest from 1939. Each one opens its own page.

Ontario Heritage Trust property · 1798Duff Baby HousePhoto: Embee473 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file

Ontario Heritage Trust easement · 1846Church of Our Lady of the AssumptionPhoto: PDru2014 from Detroit, United States · CC BY 2.0 · Commons file

Designated heritage property (part IV) · 1855Essex County Court HousePhoto: Crisco 1492 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file

Designated heritage property (part IV) · 1880Dominion HousePhoto: Ojleslie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file

Designated heritage property (part IV) · 1906Willistead ManorPhoto: Mikerussell at en · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file

Designated heritage property (part IV) · 1939Mt. Zion Church of God in ChristPhoto: Chris Woodrich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file

Homes by age

Little new building in Windsor: 2.9% of homes date from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%

Homes built from 1981 to 2000 make up just 18% of Windsor’s, against 23% in the typical town. Only 11% of Windsor’s homes were built from 2001 to 2015, less than the typical town’s 15%. More than half of Windsor’s housing predates 1981.

39%

Before 1961

29%

1961–80

18%

1981–2000

11%

2001–15

2.9%

2016–21

WindsorTypical town

2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.

Born here

Before 1914, Windsor gave 21 lives to the record

By Wikipedia’s reach, Irving Meretsky leads, with 13 articles. The longest life was Irving Meretsky’s: 94 years, to 2006. Stanley Nantais closes the list, born in 1913. Of the 21, 15 were born in the decades after Confederation. The timeline keeps to the 20 best known.

Alexander Lewis

William J. McKee

Jerry Moore

Mary Henrietta Graham

Archibald Cameron Macdonell

George Huscher

Frederick James Eugene Woodbridge

Frank R. Devlin

Gordon Morton McGregor

Edmund Murton Walker

Clarence Currie

Edmond George Odette

John D. Robins

Raymond Ducharme Morand

Raymond B. Egan

William Griesinger

George Hester

Alton C. Parker

Irving Meretsky

Stanley Nantais

1800182518501875190019251950

Irving Meretsky1912–2006 · Canadian basketball player

Edmund Murton Walker1877–1969 · Canadian entomologist

Frederick James Eugene Woodbridge1867–1940 · Canadian American theologian

Archibald Cameron Macdonell1864–1941 · Canadian military personnel

Raymond B. Egan1890–1952 · Canadian composer

George Hester1902–1951 · Canadian sprinter

Stanley Nantais1913–2004 · Canadian basketball player

Jerry Moore1855–1890 · Canadian baseball player

Everyone born in Windsor → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.

Neighbours

Windsor and its neighbours

Town	People	Places	Highest	Oldest
Windsor	269,614	8	2	1798
South Walkerville	6,129	0	0	—
Remington Park	5,783	0	0	—
Fontainebleau	11,567	0	0	—
Walkerville	19,541	1	0	1906
East Windsor	20,876	0	0	—
South Central	10,392	0	0	—

In brief

Windsor in brief

Windsor’s homes from before 1961 come to 39%, against 18% in the typical town. In all there are 8 historic places, 2 with the highest designation. Most of its dated places come from the years before Confederation: 5 of 8. Of its people of the past, the best known are Irving Meretsky (1912), Edmund Murton Walker (1877) and Frederick James Eugene Woodbridge (1867). Beyond that, the designations ran from 1950 to 2000.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
Protection. A National Historic Site designation recognises significance; it doesn’t by itself protect a building the federal government doesn’t own. Legal protection comes from provincial and municipal designations, whose own registers aren’t open data outside Québec.
Map points. Federal places get their map points from Wikidata, since Parks Canada’s files carry none; they are as mapped there.
The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
People and events. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
Provincial and municipal lists. Only Wikidata gives open access to listings on provincial and municipal registers outside Québec; without an article such a place is counted but not paged.
The tiers. National Historic Sites and the most protected buildings form the top tier; recognized federal buildings, stations and lighthouses the second; provincial and municipal listings the third.

Questions about Windsor’s history

What is the oldest building in Windsor?

By its record, Duff Baby House, from 1798 (Ontario Heritage Trust property).

How old are the homes in Windsor?

39% predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.

Which places in Windsor have the highest designation?

François Bâby House and Sandwich First Baptist Church.

Why might a heritage building in Windsor be missing here?

Provincial and municipal registers outside Québec aren’t open data. Wikidata knows 78 more listings in Windsor, but without an open description or an encyclopedia article they get no page.

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada).

Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Wikidata (CC0) for map points, other names and articles · Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (homes by period of construction). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).