The Sandwich East Town Hall was built in 1927, and designed by local architects Allaster & Jacques. Located on the south side of Tecumseh Road East, near Lauzon, the township hall was built in 1927 at a cost of about $12,000. A one storey building with a basement, the building was 26 x 50 feet. Constructed of “vari-colored rib brick, with Indiana limestone trim”. The inside contained offices for township officials was well as a council chambers. The basement contained the furnace, as well as a miniature cell block for the the use of the police department. As far as I can tell, the building was built, and was replaced in the 1960s.
Was this the place (almost) next to McDonald’s, where the City of Windsor kept the garbage trucks for many years?
Michael : I grew up on the property immediately east of the town hall – my grandfather was on the planning board in the 50’s and a friend of Mr Ouellette, the Clerk-Treasurer of Sandwich East…he would sometimes bring us in the town hall for a visit. After annexation, the property was used by the City. As for the McDonalds, it was on the two and a half lots owned by my grandfather, Joseph P Morand and sold to McD’s in 1970. The two houses from the property were sold and moved, one onto Jefferson Blvd on the west side just south of the tracks and the other onto Manning Rd then moved twice again after that. My grandfather founded Morand Insurance.
It looks like the old Sandwich East Police building to me.
This was the Sandwich East Township Hall and was immediately west of McDonald’s. Annie Street was immediately to the west. After amalgamation in the late 60s it was used by Windsor Police until a new precinct was built on Jefferson south of Tecumseh Road. Public works also used the building and grounds. I am not certain as to when it was demolished (late 1970s?) but it is now the site of a parking lot.
Thanks everyone for the clarification. I came across an article from the early 1960s for a more modern replacement. I’m not sure if the newer building was ever built with amalgamation with Windsor just around the corner…
I spent my childhood in that neighbourhood – 5 years old to about 12 years old. The township hall was a place I used to play. I liked to play in the sand pile yards behind the townhall. My family knew all the people on Annie Street, and many of the people along Tecumseh Road and Lauzon. I remember Hanks Garage at the corner of Lauzon and Tecumseh Road, and the restaurant that burned down to the ground in a fire about 1955. The property on that corner eventually became a Woolco store.
In the day, Theresa Brewer had a few hits on the radio. That was back in the 1950’s. Prominent families were the Parent and St Louis families who farmed across the street. Their farms were turned into a parking lot for K-Mart. It was just after the war, and many displaced persons from Europe settled in the area, and I played with their kids. I went to school at Victoria Public School on St Louis Blvd and I would take the Greyhound bus to get there. As I recall it cost 5 cents fare. My, my. I am now in my 70’s – such nostalgia.
Hey Don Bland, I group up in the Windsor housing projects during the early 90’s, located on lauzon Rd, between Tecumseh and hawthorn. Do you remember what was in that area when you were growing up? Can you share anything else about the east end?
Sure. I will talk some more about the neighbourhood around Sandwich East Township Hall – back in the 1950’s when I was a youngster. I hope I don’t bore you. Tell me when to stop.
My folks had a Supertest gas station, a couple of houses away from the Twp Hall. There was a farm between us and the Hall. The Gravelle family owned it and they had beautiful brick farmhouse on Tecumseh Road. It was sad to see the developers come in and demolish the farm – likely about 1960.
At the end of Annie Street was the Robinson Farm. Old man Robinson had horses and a horse drawn plough, and actual haystacks. Even in the 50’s, that kind of farming would have been regarded as obsolete.
I remember sneaking onto the Little River golf course, and getting chased off. The golf course had wooden covers over the drainage ditches so that the fairways would be flat, and in the winter, the snow would filter down between the boards and make a neat winter fairyland under there. The club house was on Lauzon Road, near Little River, and they had mean dogs that would chase us away. (But we went anyway). That golf course is long gone, and I guess is now the site of the housing project referred to by Derek.
East of the township hall, and on the south side, were 3 or 4 houses before Lauzon Rd. Across Lauzon travelling east, there were four or five houses before the Little River bridge on Tecumseh Road.
Going the other way -west on the south side. there were a number of farms, all the way to the tracks that are near Jefferson Blvd. Next to my house was Laporte Auto Wreckers, followed by a few individual houses and a few farms. In those days, Tecumseh Road was a 2 lane paved rural road., that didn’t see a lot of traffic. Summer traffic would see people going to the beaches at Maddes Park, Puce, Emeryville, and Belle River.
Awesome stories Don! You definitely didn’t bore, I love hearing about the cities history, I hope you share some more when you have the time.
Thanks again.
More of my story about Sandwich East twp hall. I lived in that neighbourhood during the 1950s….Many of the people in the neighbourhood were French Canadian, and had likely been there for a very long time. Many of them farmed. They were good people and my older sisters dated the young guys. The Big bopper, Elvis, and all of that rock and roll scene were popular in the day. (I never liked it). But besides that, there were many immigrant people from Europe who lived in Sandwich East – likley 50%50% – French Cdn’s and WASPs like me, and 50% Europeans after the war. There were two families who lived side by side in beautiful brick houses on the north side of Tecumseh rd. They were german refugees (or polish, dutch or some kind of germanic heritage) Anyway, they had old master paintings that they had smuggled from Europe – probably from the 17th century or something. Whatever the paintings were, they were important. And I remember that some governmental body or other, came one day and seized them.
Regarding Lauzon rd neighbourhood for Derek….. turning to Lauzon road north to Riverside… There were railroad tracks – likely a 1000 feet north of Tecumseh Rd. There was a steel stamping plant – Great Lakes Steel. The stamping noise they made covered most of sandwich east and up into Riverside. Actually for me it was a soothing repetitive sound. GM built a plant on the east side of Lauzon in the 60’s. Before that – it was all farm and brush land. And I believe that the GM plant has now been demolished. So, there you have it – my take on East Windsor when I was growing up in the 50’s/60’s in that neighbourhood of Sandwich East township Hall.
Here are a few details dealing with the environs of the Sandwich East Township Hall. In the later part of the 1950s, Tecumseh Road was widened to a 4 lane thoroughfare by Fullerton Construction. At the time, it was also designated as Highway 39. Lauzon Road south of Tecumseh Road was but a gravel road.
The farmland along Tecumseh Road extended north-south. There were a few dwellings along Lauzon Road and these were not farms. On the west side of Lauzon, approximately where Yolanda Street intersects, there existed a 3 room separate school name St. Anne. The main structure of brick construction housed two classrooms and was built in the 1920s. An additional classroom was contained in a separate wooden bungalow. The bungalow had grades 1 to 5 English. One classroom in the main structure housed grades 1 to 5 French and the other had grades 6 to 8 bilingual. This school was demolished in the late 60s.
Also on Lauzon Road south of Tecumseh Road and south of the Little River was Little River Golf Course. No trespassing was enforced. This golf course is now city owned. Twin Oaks Golf Course was on the south east corner of Lauzon and the Third Concession (E C Row Road, pre-expressway)
Across the road from the golf course was a privately owned driving range. The Molnars owned a pig and poultry farm on the south bank of the Little River on the east side of Lauzon Road.
Around 1960, K-Mart moved into the area with the acquisition of a large tract of property on the north-west corner of Lauzon and Tecumseh Roads. Several affected homes were moved to make way. Hanks Esso station remained on the corner. A Dominion food store joined K-Mart and eventually several shops were added. This was the beginning of the Tecumseh Mall. This development led the way to much activity in the area. N&D Eastown arrived on the north-east corner and was eventually joined by Woolco. The home on the south-west intersection was demolished and made way for a service station.
As cited by Don Bland, East Side Auto Plating was situated on Tecumseh Road on the west bank of Little River. It was a bumper manufacturing plant and involved stamping (lots of noise) and chrome plating of bumpers. This plant passed though several hands and name changes over the years.
GM built a trim plant on the north side of the CN rail tracts in the late 60s or early 70s. WFCU arena now occupies part of this now demolished site.
McDonalds came to the area in the early 70s. Two homes were moved to make way. A third brick home east of these two was demolished. Just east of this development was Louis Barber Shop and Chinee Villa.
Along Tecumseh Road and west of the Township hall, most of the property was farmland. A large tract near where the rail line crosses was owned by Ford Motor Company. Ajax Lumber was across the street. Eventually, Dingwall Ford (now Rose City) moved in.
East Side Auto Wreckers (owned by the Laporte family), located on the south side of Tecumseh Road relocated to Walker Road approximately across from where Costco now exists. Eventually, a Beaver Gas station was constructed near this area. The ensuing years brought much commercial development between Jefferson and Lauzon.
The Forest Glade subdivision got its roots in the mid 60s and development was quick and extensive. The Toronto based developer approached all the landowners and made an offer. All the landowners had to be in agreement in order for the development to proceed. After many meetings, all agreed and the rest is history. And finally, this led to the construction of E C Row Expressway.
To end with a bit of trivia. The 1946 tornado passed trough this area and Mrs. Daniel Fields (Helen nee Labadie) was to perish. She lived in a home on Tecumseh Road on the east side of the Little River. The tornado was weakening at this point and went on east with little damage (as was related to me).
I didn’t intend for this to be such a lengthy narrative.