Lost Windsor – International Metropolis

Buildings of Windsor Lost Windsor Notable Windsorites

1156 Ouellette - Oswald Janisse House

August 11, 2024

Above is a photo of the home of Mr & Mrs Oswald Janisse, located at what would be 1156 Ouellette Ave today. The photo above dates to 1924. The house was built around 1921 by Oswald Janisse. Oswald, along with his brother Eugene, ran the Janisse Brothers Realty company which was established in 1913. They quickly realized that waterfront property was a desirable asset and cornered the…

Lost Windsor

White's Restaurant & The Elbow Room - 33 Pitt Street East

July 7, 2024

in 1917 two Greek brothers Gus & Harry Lukos purchased a one story building on Pitt Street East housing White’s Cafe. In 1924 they built a 3 story building with a bowling alley, that became known as The Windsor Recreation Building. White’s was located on the…

Demolition going, going, gone...Lost Windsor

841 Ouellette - Final Days

May 5, 2024

An unremarkable end to a part of Windsor’s history. The large vacant house at 841 Ouellette that was recently painted in a rainbow pattern of colours, burned down the other night in a spectacular fire. Built in 1890 for J.D. Arthur Deziel, the home served as a beauty…

Demolition Lost Windsor Old Photographs

Joseph L. Reaume House - 1924

April 21, 2024

One for the lost Windsor files, is this house that once belonged to Joseph Reaume of Ford City. Reaume was a builder and was was also the assessor of the town of Ford City. The house was built to resemble houses that Reaume saw during his winters away in California. The bedroom were all located to the rear of the home in a part that could be described as an annex, separate from the living…

Demolition Lost Windsor Old Newspaper Stories Old Photographs

Marcon Home Demolition - Russell Street - 1978

March 12, 2024

Demolition of old Marcon home on Russell Street recalls memories for 92 year old Alma Cronin By Brian Porter Star Staff Reporter “Over there’s where I used to play, and that’s where rose bushes once grew.” More than 90 years of memories came…

Demolition Lost Windsor Old Photographs

J Clark Keith Generating Plant - c 1979

November 26, 2023

Here’s an aerial view of the J Clark Keith generating plan in Brighton Beach in a shot taken around 1979. The coal burning Hydro plant was opened in 1951, but ceased operating in 1984. The giant structure stood mothballed until it was declared surplus to provincial…

Demolition Lost Windsor Old Photographs Windsor

Tunnel Bar-B-Q 2015

November 19, 2023

I recently came across this photo that I took in April, 2015 in a folder of older pictures. 2015 doesn’t feel like that long ago, but it was nearly eight years ago already. The long lost Tunnel Bar-B-Q was a local institution for generations, dating back to the the early 1940s, the business closed in September, 2014. The building was demolished in 2015, not long after I took this photo. The…

Buildings of Windsor Demolition Lost Windsor Notable Windsorites Old Newspaper Stories

Clarke Monuments - 1044 Howard Avenue

August 20, 2023

Here’s one that’s a more recently lost piece of Windsor History. This small block building on Howard, just south of Erie Street, stood from the early 1920s until about 2020. For most of a century this was the home to D Clarke Monuments, a gravestone maker that…

Lost Windsor Old Photographs

Drouillard Road - c 1928

July 30, 2023

Photo above from the collection of the Windsor Public Library A shot taken around 1928 on the east side of Drouillard in between what is today Whelpton & Trenton streets. A pair of architecturally interesting buildings here, both lost to time. Oddly the building to…