Sandwich East Township Hall

View Comments

• 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.