Today we put a face to a name, and take a look at Cecil E. Jackson, the 17th mayor of Windsor.
Cecil Jackson served as mayor for four, one year terms, from 1927-1930, and is the namesake of Jackson Park at Tecumseh and Ouellette. He oversaw some of the biggest boom years in Windsor’s History, and was mayor through both the opening of the Ambassador Bridge and The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
Jackson was born in 1872, and moved to Windsor at the age of 14 from Port Burwell. He was first elected to council as an alderman in 1904, and served in that capacity until 1926. He was elected mayor in 1927, and served through the end of 1930. He was then elected a school board trustee in 1931 and 1932, before losing in 1933, ending a 28 year career in municipal politics. Jackson passed away in 1956.
What year was the park named/dedicated? Was it already parkland before being named ‘Jackson’? I recall reading that the site was once a racetrack. If it was, what were the years of operation? Also, was the Kennedy site part of this racetrack? This should stimulate some conversation on the subject.. 😉
JBM, the park was originally called the Windsor Jockey club, I beleive. Actually, before that it was the Windsor Barracks where our local soldiers were based. There were a few buildings on the site close to Tecumseh and Ouellette. I think the track existed from 1883 to 1928, which would be when KCI was built, between 28&29. The scar of the track was still plainly obvious after KCI’s completion, and the Grand Stand burned in 1955 or 56 if I remember correctly.
Judging by a picture I saw, I think from Windsor Star vaults, the Park was originally a fairgrounds, and the 99th Regt was staying in some of the buildings around early 1900s.
What about his family? What did he do before and after he got into politics?
Holly, there is a historical marker in Jackson park for him giving a breif description of his history.Other than this I can’t find much.
I’ll type it out for you here:
“Jackson Park is named after former Windsor Mayor Cecil E. Jackson, who devoted much of his life to Public service. Jackson was a hard working man. At the age of 14 he moved to Windsor from Port Burwell and was quick to get a job selling newspapers at the railway. From there, Jackson became involved in buisness. He owned a barbershop an billiard hall on Sandwich Street and later on Pitt Street near Goyeau Street. Jackson was elected to City Council in 1904, serving as Alderman until 1926 when he began four successive terms as Mayor. Jackson had dreams of a greater city and was determined to make Windsor one of the leading cities in Canada. One of Jackson’s goals was the creation of a park on 64 acres of land owned by the Windsor Jockey Club. After countless debates and much persistence on the part of Jackson, “Jackson Park” was purchased by the City in 1928″
Holly, I believe he was a barber before/during his years in office. I believe he left a wife at the time of his passing, not sure about any children.
He had at least one daughter named Marjorie. She moved to Potterville, MI and married Dr Albert Myers around 1930. I believe Cecil also had two other daughters and one son who died in Germany in WWII (the son was in the Royal Canadian Air Force). According to family legend, he sold insurance prior to his career in public service (he was my great, great grandfather).
My wife is doing our family trees and has been doing some serious digging into mine and we have found out that Cecil Jackson was my Great great grand father. My family name is Ryan but tracing back it goes into Snyder and Jackson.