Historical or Associative Considerations:

The subject property is located in the former Town of Walkerville, founded by Hiram Walker (1816-1899), the industrial entrepreneur from the United States. What is now Southwestern Ontario was inhabited by First Nations peoples, including the Ottawas. Following unsuccessful attempts to resist the French (who had settled earlier than British) newcomers, the Ottawa leader Pontiac granted lands to settlers in the vicinity of what became Walkerville. By the mid-1850s Hiram Walker had bought several farm parcels. In the beginnings in 1858, Hiram Walker relocated his distillery from Detroit to Canada, and prospered as he introduced rail lines, street railways and ferry services, which spurred the growth of the distillery village further into a town with diversified businesses well-connected with multiple transportation systems. Walkerville became a planned community, almost entirely owned by the Walker family until the early 20th century

The subject property is located on Part of Lots 93 and 94, Concession 1 Petite Cote, in the Township of Sandwich, Essex County, Ontario. In the 1881 Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Essex (H. Belden & Co.), the subject area within Lots 94 and 93 2 had no listed owner. In 1885, the Lake Erie, Essex and Detroit River Railway Company was formed and a few years later the company bought over some of the right- of-way on the southern section of the subject property.3

By 1890, Walkerville had obtained town status and was a self-sufficient model town. The Walker Power Building and the discovered archaeological artifact of the railway turntable had deep connections with the railway, which provided a transportation network for Walker’s products, and other businesses. The 1890 Fire Insurance Plan of Walkerville shows Grand Trunk Railway Western Division and Lake Erie, Essex, & Detroit River Railway (later ownership changed to Canadian National Railway, Pere Marquette Railway, and Chesapeake & Ohio Railway) rail lines over the subject property. Also seen on the Fire Insurance Plan are the railroad turntable as well as a water tower, a hotel, a roundhouse and other structures. (Refer to Appendix C for Historical Images and Fire Insurance Plan)

The Walker Power Building was constructed circa 1911-1913 over some of the earlier rail lines and the railroad turntable, and was apparently owned by Hiram Walker & Sons (based on Land Registry Office Records). Originally built in 1911 as a three storey building at the corner of Devonshire and Sandwich Street (now Riverside Drive East) as what was considered a large development, the success of the development with factory 2 occupancies led to a four storey addition to the west of the building in 1912. A 1913 article by The Evening Star reported on the budding presence of United States industries operating in the building and the hiring of considerable skilled labor. Factory occupants including tenants included the Walkerville Light and Power Company, the Dominion Malleable Range Company (manufacturers of stoves and cooking equipment), the Agnew Electrical Welding Machinery Company, the Sparks Washington

2 “Revised Report: Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment.” Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, September 12, 2019

3 Brode, M.J.T. “Connected: How the Railroads Built Windsor”. Print Works, Windsor, 2012.