Above is a shot of the corner of Tecumseh Road and St. Anne Boulevard in the town of Tecumseh.
Here’s the same view about 60 years later. The missing steeple on the church is probably the biggest change to the landscape here.
Does anyone know the history of the building on the south east corner? I always thought it kind of looked like a post office but I can’t really tell from this photo. I don’t know much at all when it comes to county history…
Andrew, you are correct. It was a post office when new.
I love the old picture of Tecumseh. I lived there (St. Clair Beach) all of my life, until a few months ago. I was driving by this part the other day and wondering how long the Lavin Realty building/house has been there, and what was there before. It looks like an Esso station was in the same place, so the office isn’t all that old. And there was a taller building further down on the same side back then. I wonder what happened there.
the other end of the building on the south side of Tecumseh Rd was the PARIS tavern years ago
At the east end of Tecumseh RD where it turns north to cross the tracks just south of the curve the Old Golden Tavern sat before it burned and on the north side of the street the tall building in the background was the original TECUMSEH TAVERN I think the sign is visible
The Tecumseh Tavern sold beer in quart bottles
Love this shot!
Would love to see more Tecumseh stuff especially anything around Banwell and Tecumseh or Riverside and Lesperance!
Looked alot busier in 1953!
There were certainly a lot more people walking around in that area back then, but for automobile traffic, it’s plenty busy now. But mostly people passing through this intersection to home.
is that a SW&A bus I see coming west near Lesperance?? well i’ll be dammed
They could have bus service into Tecumseh and beyond back then but now it seems to be something they can’t agree on with all the shopping on manning road Transit Windsor would do well but I guess Tecumseh’s mayor won’t anti up
I wonder how long the tower will be down for? Will it be back up in our life time? Who knows? Lol
Tecumseh tried to get Transit Windsor to bid on bus service a couple years ago, Windsor didn’t think it would even breakeven, therefore thats why Tecumseh has a mini schoolbus and very few passengers.
People in the county talk about bus service, but walk the other way when money is mentioned.
Gary, the Tecumseh Tavern was the light coloured building to the west of the tall one on the corner of Tecumseh and Lesperance. At this time, I believe that the ground floor of the tall building was the Tecumseh Fruit and Meat Market. In the late sixties (I think) the Tecumseh Tavern took over the market space in order to expand. The ‘T House’ was a victim of a tragic fire which destroyed lots of sports memorabilia.
The steeple is still there, just on the ground as they raise funds to restore it. Last time I was by there the fundraising thermometer looked pretty close to reach the goal to get it back on top of the building again.
JBM ya I remember they had a fire which destroyed the Bar he opened in the Central mall for a few years back in the early 90’s but now it’s a Dollar store as far as the bus service goes you think Transit Windsor would have pushed a little harder to make a deal with all the shopping and green giant they would have made a nice profit when I was a kid we lived in Belle River and Chatham Coach ran a bus thru the county to downtown Windsor that ran for years now instead of running new routes they just increase the bus fare for the same shit bus service
Well, this is a trip in time! That’s my dad on the south east corner (white shirt) and my grandma walking toward him in the black overcoat, really! The Post Office then became the Liquor Store where you had to “check list” your selection at a counter and bring your ticket to the person behind the counter, who then went down the ailes to find your firewater and bring it back to the cashier. Across the street on north side, the Supertest is now a parking lot. Next, was the old Robinet home, then Robinet Hardware (tall bldg), then the IDA Drugstore, then the Tecumseh House, then the Hebert Block on the corner. The Mac’s now encompasses the T-House and Hebert bldg property. Lavin Realty built over the Robinet House ( demo’d ) property. Pat and Hanks now occupies the Paris Tavern main floor.The problem with Tecumseh Town ,is back a few decades ago they removed parking off the street to create a highway thru town and with restrictive parking lot by-laws effectively killed the old downtown. There is a new streetscape being planned which might reverse the stark look you see now.If only Dad and Grandma could see the reversal, bless their souls.
I think the highway through town is to get people to Manning & Tecumseh Rd, faster. That seems to be the heart of town now. It has been for a while, at least 20-25 years. Maybe longer.
The last spike was about 15 years ago when the last parking spots were removed along the south side of Tecumseh road. Royal Oak Mich. made the same fatal mistake back in the 80’s. When they realized the mistake and reversed the whole concept, look at it now, vibrant street action. Take EC Row and get to Manning. The old downtown will rebound as soon as Council get their priorities managed.
The Tecumseh House was never in the corner Hebert Bldg. The T-House was started in an old home and it was expanded with additions over the years until the old home facade was covered.Back in the early twenties my father ( 11 years old ) was sent with a wooden bucket to get fresh draught beer for his dad a block away. They had the best chicken wings and draughts. The area over the bar and similar to a trelis/canopy was covered with NHL signed hockey sticks, side by side for 40 feet. Hundreds of sticks and signed photos on the walls, to die for, burnt. The Golden Hotel at the far end of Tecumseh rd. at Bedell st. was a rock’n roll heaven in the 70’s. the best pizza around was served by the slice with your cold beer.It was a large victorian style blg. built across from the old train station to house travelers on their short stays before hitting the rails. Within walking distance, Tecumseh had 5 drinking establishments: Tecumseh House, The Paris, The Canadian, The Golden, The Legion, ( Shawnee Gun Club, Rendezvous, Knights of Columbus, were farther) and one brewery ( Old Camarades, etc, Carlings )Tecumseh was a good place to drink and eat.
Today’s view looks pretty grim compared to the Tecumseh I knew in the early seventies, which wasn’t far off from the 1953 version.
The Tecumseh Tavern was irreplaceable.
Why is the church steeple on the ground?
windsorite-in-exile, the steeple is on the ground, because an engineering survey was done on the tower and it was discovered that it was rotten, and a safety hazard. There used to be a billboard next to it showing the total to get it back up and everything repaired, but they took the sign down years ago. I don’t know where they stand, now. It’s been down for several years. I never imagined it would take this long.
Truly sad, churches are neglected in this county. I’m not religious by any account but I do know the significance of historic French churches throughout our county that are ‘forgotten’ about.
And even though St. Anne has a large number of parishioners, they are on the low end of donations to scale of other churches…
Let’s get that tower back up and boost Tecumseh’s looks 10 fold.
Richard, the city wanted to split the cost and the mayor of Tec. said no. Lakeshore wants Tranist Windsor but it can’t get through Tecumseh. Sadly Windsor is hemmed in like Detroit, to it’s detriment.
The building on the far left on the corner of Lesperance rd was an apt building under it was a grocery store. The Lavin building is on spare property once owned by the Robinet family hence Robinet Hardware.The grocery store was called Pete and Georges.That space is now a variety store
Jim, I would personally love to see some odd pics with info about the corner of Lesperance and riverside dr. Back in the 1960’s and ’30’s, there was a dance place called ‘ Blue water Pavilion. It was a large space taking up the location of 3 or 4 houses. It burned down in the ’30’s. Sometime after, a large house was moved there, but in time, it was severed in half to make 2 houses and my brother lives in one of the halves! No one seems to have more info on this area. There are 2 pics of the pavilion, I have one taken from the inside.
Mistakes corrected… Tsk! That should read ‘old’ pics, not odd. The year should read ‘1920’s’ not 1960…. sorry
due to family illness, i went to St.Anne for my 6th grade ( 1956). i was born and raised in Detroit so there was a language difference. the nuns were so kind and patient – a great experience. the marions, robinets’ and many others were wonderful. i still fondly remember the shawnee gun club and seven ponds. sad to see the change.