Three more vintage shots today from the Bernie Drouillard collection. The photo above is dated June 1941, and shows a street scene of Ouellette Ave. looking north from Wyandotte Street. Note the old streetcar tracks are still visible on Ouellette Ave.
This shot shows the same view a few years later. The bunting has been removed along with the “Victory Bonds” banner. Perhaps this is after WWII was over? Also note the Streetcar tracks are now gone.
Here is a view of Ouellette Ave. looking south from Riverside Drive. The long lost Norwich block is on the right, and Albert Kahn’s original Bank of Commerce is located to the left. I’m guessing the photo above was taken at the same time as the photo before this one. Again the tracks have been removed, and the asphalt looks relatively new. The last two photos were probably taken following the removal of the tracks for S.W.& A. records.
It’s kind of depressing to see how far downtown has fallen. Despite the spin by the DWBIA and the Mayor’s Office, there is really little reason to head downtown these days.
Long lines of cars parked and not a metre in sight.
Funny, that’s exactly what the then-mayor muttered to himself as he looked at this picture the night before the fateful council meeting years ago where they decided to put meters on Ouellette! The week following that decision was the formation of the city’s Parking Enforcement dept. Don’t thank me for this definitive tidbit of Windsor history, OK? 😉
Ah, the High Cost of Free Parking:
http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=072
Good book — the review I linked to is Raise the Hammer — a good Hamilton blog — check it out. Lots of parallels in steeltown with motortown.
Seems the city tried free parking this past Christmas to help bolster business with local shops. Was it downtown or Ottawa street, I forget now? Anyway, all the shops employees snapped up the “free” parking spots and the end result was instead of customers having to pay 50 cents for a spot on the street, there was no spots at all. Human nature, gotta love it…
BRING BACK THE TROLLEY!!!
Anon, you are right! the trolley was the right thing back then, and its the right thing now! It’s way past time and I think think it should be part of the local transit, sooner the better!
The same budget money that is slated for 20 yrs of road widening can be trippled with government funds-matching and buy a more than decent rail transit system. Or we can all watch the Windsor in a downward spiral free-fall…
One would think if they could pull it off in 1886 and operate for a solid 50+ years that they could pull it off in 2007.
But then again Transit Windsor has a hard time just getting the city to approve purchase of new buses, so what are the chances Eddie would ever part with the millions required for a streetcar system?
I agree though…. it should at least be an option.
Oddly enough, the town in France my realtives live in St. Etienne, (incedentally Windsor’s Twin City) was the only city in France that didn’t get rid of their streetcar system. They kept one line all these years. They have since added a few new lines, and transport people from other cities all over France come to St. Etiennne to see their system, and it is used as the model for many other cities. I rode it last year when I was there… Here’s a photo of their tram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Saint-Etienne_tram_street.jpg
I was introduced to your website by excerpts from an email sent by a friend. Wonderful!!! I have long been fascinated by pictures of old. They are a link with the past and sometimes present a lesson to be learned. A view of simpler times, a different way of life…. the more you look at a photo the more you see. Sadly my grandmother’s photos were lost when she got ill a few years back and did not reappear when she passed away. I have fond memories tho of going downtown with her to the Metropolitan, Kresge’s (they retained their hardwood floors for the years they were open)shopping for fabric and a small lunch at the Woolworth’s dept store. Am I the only one to recall the Firemen’s Field Day at Jackson Park? Hay was put over the grounds to protect the plants and lawns. But pardon me , I get long winded on this sort of thing. I wrote to thank you for posting these wonderful and rare photos, sharing sweet glimpses into yesterday. Please post more as they come? If I can find any more to add I will be glad to share. Thank you and thank you …Vicki
Just a quick question… In one of the long shots of nighttime downtown, is that not a Zeller’s sign? and is it the same one we know of today? Thanks a million times over…
Zellers downtown? Which pic is that in? I’ve scanned over them again and can’t find it. Have never known of a Zellers downtown, although I am constantly reminded that they have been around since 1921 so anything is possible.
Thanks for this and other recent photos of postwar Windsor. I hope more people can see how our downtowns used to be to give them an idea of how they can be and should be once again.
I am looking for some informaion on a childrens clothing store that was open in and around 1943. There was a picture in the window of a young boy in a sailor suit. This was my father and I am looking to obtain a copy or any info, as he has just passed away and I am looking for information on him.
Thank you in advance
Chris Hamilton
I would like to enlist the help of any local history buffs who would be willing to be part of an historic sidewalk project. I would like to see sidewalk slabs at important locations stamped with a brief summary of some historical event that occured in Windsor…in front of the Francois Baby House for example. Since most of your comments find Windsor “wanting” in terms of what we could make of our city – it seems that a few of you might be interested in this.
does anyone know the name of the Chinese Restaurant that was just down the street from the old Radio Tavern, it was on Ouellette Ave just north of Wyndotte on the East side of the street
Lotus Garden.
does anyone remember the hotel that was built on the Northwest corner of Riverside Drive and Ouellette Avenue.
Millie, it was the Ritz. Have a look at this earlier post: http://internationalmetropolis.com/2010/05/14/the-ritz-hotel/
I remember the chinese restaurant on Quellette ( Lotus Gardens ) The young guys me included would go there after a hard night of Beers . Food tasted great . Went there until they got sited for using cats in the Chinese .
Does anyone remember Robert Bullen?
Ouellette Ave. was alive and well back in the 40’s and 50’s. Although smaller than that of Detroit (of course!), it was loud with the sounds of footsteps on cement sidewalks, the honking of horns (lots of that in those days), and the hum of those old yellow Ford-built front-engine buses, numbered in 2-digits in the Sandwich, Windsor, and Amherstburg Railway Company’s system. These were the buses that replaced the streetcars back in 1939, and I remember riding next to the driver on the big hump under which was the engine. It was warm sitting there in the winter, and exciting to a 4-year old about to climb the great heights of the Peabody Bridge on Riverside Drive on the Lauzon bus route. Many were the great stores along Ouellette Ave. The lower photo shows the large Dowler’s Mens Wear store with its balcony and large L-shaped floor area. Across the street on the left of the photo is the Smith’s Department store with it’s several floors of goodies and its old wooden attendant-operated elevators and its pneumatic tube system for sending money up to the offices on the top floor. Tucked in there was Bondy’s Shoe Store. It had an x-ray machine where you could see your toes right through your shoes! Imagine that! You can’t do that today. Small things made big memories and had great entertainment value back then.