As readers of this website in its previous life might remember there was a large section on the Brighton Beach neighborhood in Windsor’s West End.
Over the last decade the area has been slowly decimated by the City of Windsor, who have been busy buying/expropriating all the homes in the area. Initially the plan was to turn the land into an industrial park, but the smart money is on this area being the home of the next Windsor-Detroit Bridge.
The history of the area is an interesting one. This story goes back to 1913, and the boom years before WWI. There was an ann0uncement made that a giant steel plant was going to be built in the town of Ojibway.
A giant real estate speculation frenzy erupted, with the area around the plant in the town of Ojibway was laid out, sub-divided and the lots put up for sale. People were excited by the prospect of investing in real estate in what was promised to be the “Gary, IN of Canada”.
In the end, the war killed the plans for the giant plant, and only a small plant was ever built. News of new developments came and went over the next 50 years, but nothing ever became of any of them. The town of Ojibway had a prohibition by-law on the books dating back to incorporation, making Ojibway a “dry” town. When the Windsor Raceway was built in the 1960’s, a referendum had to be held to repeal the by law. Only a handful of residents lived in the town, and the measure easily passed, and a bar was allowed at the raceway.
In the end, the only people who got rich off the Ojibway real estate boom were the real estate companies. Not only Ojibway was subdivided, but also the areas surrounding Ojibway also boomed. The adjacent areas of Sandwich West Township also were split up and subdivided. Brighton Beach was one of these areas; it was located on the eastern border with Ojibway.
One of the real estate companies that cashed in on the boom was the Page-Healy-Chappus Company. They were the ones responsible for Brighton Beach, and their names still appear on the names of the streets in the area.
Over the next week, I am going to sort though and re-upload many of the Brighton Beach photos I’ve shot over the years.
Below are several aerial views of the area, dating from 1949-2006. There have been many changes over the last 57 years. The 1949, 1961 & 1997 photo are from Detroit Edison, and the 2006 photo is from Google Earth.
1949, note the absence of trees in the area.
1961, the area is pretty well developed.
1997, is the beginning of the end. The built up area is about is dense as it ever got, and the expropriation began around this period.
2006, the Urban Prairie has taken hold. Only a small handful of houses remain in the area, dumping and arson is rampant.
Stay tuned for more later this week…
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Very very cool andrew, I'm looking forward to seeing all the pictures you have of this area.
I enjoyed the section on Brighton beach as i grew up there, lived there until I was 21 y/o, my parents moved there in 1950 and sold to the city in 2002.
Thanks for the pictures they are a treasure for me. My father built our first house in Brighton Beach in either 1949 or 1950 I was 3 maybe 4.
Very cool photos. It's great to see all those old buildings again. I'm 25 and have been going back there since I was little. Now we ride our ATV's back in there. Please drop me an email if you post more pics. Thanks.
Where was the beach?? I read there was once an amusement park somewhere there in the 1870s ?
That's true Steve, There were a couple actually. They all came up when a mineral spring was found in the area.
I want to go metal detecting around there, where were those amusement parks? Cool articles on Brighton.
I grew up there as well moved out when I was 5 or 6
~ You can't get in there to even look around now ! We tried just this past week and saw that there are guards stationed all along the main road. So, we didn't even try. We just wanted to do some exploring to see if we'd come upon ruins of old houses. I'm ashamed to admit that I've lived in Windsor most of my life and had never been to Brighton Beach until now. My loss !
I went around September Annette...looking for the WRIGHT home...and YES! There were guards, and surveillance warnings all over. The streets themselves were blocked off by mounds of dirt or cement blockades. :( There was still a house there and occupied though. I wonder how many times they've been asked questions about the history, and ultimately wonder how they managed to REMAIN there! I forget which street i found them on, but think i took a photo (even though the house is surrounded by brush) Oh well. I think the WRIGHT house is gone...
Looking FORWARD to eyeing those PHOTOS you mention here!