Windsor is a small town located in central
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
at the junction of the Avon and
St. Croix RiverThe St. Croix River is a river in Nova Scotia entirely contained in Hants and Halifax Counties. Its headwaters are Panuke Lake. The river has been exploited for water power. There were water mills in the nineteenth century and in the 1930’s three hydroelectric dams were built; they still...
s. It is the largest community in western
Hants CountyHants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...
with a 2001 population of 3,778 and was at one time the shire town of the county.
Windsor is 66 kilometres northwest of Halifax, approximately 20 kilometres from the eastern end of the
Annapolis ValleyThe Annapolis Valley is a valley in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...
. Windsor used to be a railway junction for the
Dominion Atlantic RailwayThe Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
where a route to
TruroTruro is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada...
joined with the mainline between Halifax and
YarmouthYarmouth is a town and major fishing and ferry port located on the Gulf of Maine in southwestern Yarmouth County Nova Scotia, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as "The Gateway to Nova Scotia".- History :...
.
Today the community is a local service centre and nucleus of the
West Hants Municipal DistrictWest Hants is a municipal district in Hants County, Nova Scotia.It occupies the western half of Hants County, running from the Minas Basin to the boundary with Halifax County, sharing this boundary with the East Hants municipal district....
.
Fundy Gypsum, a mining company operating
gypsumGypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO
4·2H
2O.-Crystal varieties:...
mines just east of town, is a major employer in the region.
Windsor is a small town located in central
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
at the junction of the Avon and
St. Croix RiverThe St. Croix River is a river in Nova Scotia entirely contained in Hants and Halifax Counties. Its headwaters are Panuke Lake. The river has been exploited for water power. There were water mills in the nineteenth century and in the 1930’s three hydroelectric dams were built; they still...
s. It is the largest community in western
Hants CountyHants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...
with a 2001 population of 3,778 and was at one time the shire town of the county.
Windsor is 66 kilometres northwest of Halifax, approximately 20 kilometres from the eastern end of the
Annapolis ValleyThe Annapolis Valley is a valley in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...
. Windsor used to be a railway junction for the
Dominion Atlantic RailwayThe Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
where a route to
TruroTruro is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada...
joined with the mainline between Halifax and
YarmouthYarmouth is a town and major fishing and ferry port located on the Gulf of Maine in southwestern Yarmouth County Nova Scotia, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as "The Gateway to Nova Scotia".- History :...
.
Today the community is a local service centre and nucleus of the
West Hants Municipal DistrictWest Hants is a municipal district in Hants County, Nova Scotia.It occupies the western half of Hants County, running from the Minas Basin to the boundary with Halifax County, sharing this boundary with the East Hants municipal district....
.
Fundy Gypsum, a mining company operating
gypsumGypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO
4·2H
2O.-Crystal varieties:...
mines just east of town, is a major employer in the region. Southwestern Nova Scotia's only
alpine skiAlpine Ski is an Alpine skiing arcade game, released by Taito in 1981.- Description :The player controls a skier, who can move left, right, or increase forward speed. The aim is to maneuver a skier through a downhill ski course, a slalom course, and a ski jumping competition in the shortest time...
hill is located 3 kilometres up the Avon River valley from Windsor at
MartockMartock is a rural Canadian agricultural community located in the Avon River valley of western Hants County, Nova Scotia.The community was named after Martock House which was the original home in the area. The Georgian style mansion was built in 1790 and originally boasted more than 4000 acres of...
. It is home to the
Windsor Pumpkin RegattaThe Windsor Pumpkin Regatta is an annual water race held in October on Lake Pesaqid in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The course is a half mile from start to finish...
.
History
The region encompassing present day Windsor was originally known as Pesaquid, a Mi'kmaq term meaning "Junction of Waters". This name referred to the confluence of the Avon and St. Croix rivers, which flow into the
Minas BasinThe Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides.- Geography :- Boundary :...
.
The French were the first to settle in the area around 1685. British first settled in 1749. They built
Fort EdwardFort Edward is a National Historic Site in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada. The most notable feature of the fort is a blockhouse, which, apart from earthworks, is all that remains of a more substantial structure first erected in 1750 by Major Charles Lawrence, the officers quarters and barracks having...
in 1750, which later burned down except for its wooden blockhouse. That blockhouse is now the last of its kind in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and is a major tourist attraction in Windsor. Fort Edward and Windsor played a major role in the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755.
The Township of Windsor was founded in 1764, and the next year, its first Agricultural Fair was held. This fair is still continued today, and is actually the oldest and longest-running such fair in North America.
In the American Revolution, Windsor was an important British stronghold. A relief force was mustered at Windsor to crush the American-led siege at the
Battle of Fort CumberlandThe Battle of Fort Cumberland was an attempt by a small number of militia commanded by Jonathan Eddy to bring the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in late 1776...
in 1776.
Following the American Revolution, Windsor developed its gypsum deposits, usually selling it to American markets at
Passamaquoddy BayPassamaquoddy Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its western shore bounded by Washington County, Maine. The southernmost point is formed by...
. Often this trade was illegal; in 1820, an effort to stop this smuggling trade resulted in the so-called "Plaster War," in which local smugglers resoundingly defeated the efforts of
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
officials to bring the trade under their control.
The
University of King's CollegeThe University of King's College is a post-secondary institution in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. King's is a small liberal arts university offering only undergraduate programs....
and its secondary school, King's Collegiate School, were founded in 1788-1789 by
United Empire LoyalistsThe name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific name which has been given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the...
as Anglican academic institutions. The college remained in the community until a disastrous fire on February 3, 1920. In 1922 it moved to Halifax, with the assistance of the
Carnegie FoundationThe Carnegie Foundation is an organization based in The Hague, The Netherlands. It was founded in 1903 by Andrew Carnegie in order to manage his donation of $1.5 million, which was used for the construction, management and maintenance of the Peace Palace...
and continues to this day.
The King's Collegiate School continued operation on the campus and was joined by a sister girls school, 'Edgehill School', in 1890. In 1976 both institutions merged to form
King's-Edgehill SchoolKing's-Edgehill School is a Canadian independent University Preparatory School located in the town of Windsor, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1788 and granted a Royal Charter in 1802, King's-Edgehill is the oldest independent school in the Commonwealth outside the United Kingdom...
, and remains the oldest independent (ie. private) school in the
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
outside of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Thomas Chandler HaliburtonThomas Chandler Haliburton was one of the first major Canadian authors.Haliburton was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, the son of William Hersey Otis Haliburton and Lucy Chandler Grant. He attended University of King's College in Windsor and became a lawyer, opening a practice in Annapolis Royal...
brought fame to Windsor during the 1800s with his writings about a clockmaker named
Sam SlickSam Slick was a character created by Thomas Chandler Haliburton, a Canadian judge and author. With his wry wit and Yankee voice, Sam Slick of Slicksville put forward his views on "human nature" in a regular column in the Novascotian, beginning in 1835...
.
In 1878, Windsor was officially incorporated as a town. Its harbour made the town a centre for shipping and shipbuilding during the age of sail. As the port of registry for the massive wooden shipbuilding industry of the
Minas BasinThe Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides.- Geography :- Boundary :...
, Windsor was the homeport of one of the largest fleet of sailing ships in Canada. Notable vessels registered at Windsor included
HamburgHamburg was a three masted barque built in 1886 at Hantsport, Nova Scotia. She was the largest three masted barque ever built in Canada . Hamburg was one of the last of over a hundred large sailing vessels built by the Churchill family of Hantsport, led by Ezra Churchill. Her name continued the...
, the largest three masted barque built in Canada and
Kings CountyKings County was a four masted barque built in 1890 at Kingsport, Nova Scotia on the Minas Basin. She was named to commemorate Kings County, Nova Scotia and represented the peak of the county's shipbuilding era...
, the largest four masted barque. Following the completion of the
Nova Scotia RailwayThe Nova Scotia Railway is a historic Canadian railway. It was composed of two lines, one connecting Richmond with Windsor, the other connecting Richmond with Pictou via Truro....
's line from Halifax in 1857, the town became an important steamship connection giving Halifax access to the
Bay of FundyThe Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
shipping routes. The railway continued westward as the
Windsor and Annapolis RailwayThe Windsor and Annapolis Railway was a historic Canadian railway that operated in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.The railway ran from Windsor to Annapolis Royal and leased connections to Nova Scotia's capital of Halifax...
in 1870, eventually connecting to Yarmouth as the
Dominion Atlantic RailwayThe Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
in 1893. No longer the railhead, Windsor's steamship connection diminished but the central location of Windsor on the railway fostered the growth of numerous factories such as textile mills and fertilizer plants.
Over the course of its history, Windsor was victim to two disastrous fires, on October 17, 1897, and January 6, 1924, both of which destroyed part of the town.
In 1970, the construction of a flood-control causeway carrying
Highway 101Highway 101 is an east-west highway in Nova Scotia that runs from Bedford to Yarmouth.The highway follows a 310 km route along the southern coast of the Bay of Fundy through the Annapolis Valley. Between its western terminus at Yarmouth to Weymouth, the highway is 2-lane controlled access. ...
and the
Dominion Atlantic RailwayThe Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
across the Avon River closed Windsor off from shipping and has affected navigation in the Avon River downstream from the causeway due to excessive siltation. Highway 101 is scheduled to be upgraded to a 4-lane
expresswayAn expressway is a divided highway for high-speed traffic with at least partial control of access. The degree of access allowed varies between countries and even between regions within the same country. In some jurisdictions, expressways are divided arterial roads with limits on the frequency of...
in the future and there have been discussions about replacing the causeway with railroad and highway bridges to improve water flow. Today, the Avon River on the upstream side of the causeway which is obstructed from freely flowing into the Bay of Fundy is called 'Lake Pisiquid'.
Hockey
Windsor maintains a claim as the cradle of
ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
, based upon a reference (in a novel by Thomas Haliburton) of boys from King's Collegiate School playing "hurley", on the frozen waters of 'Long Pond' adjacent to the school's campus during the early 1800s. Students from King's-Edgehill School still play hockey on "Long Pond", a pond proclaimed by some as the "Cradle of Hockey", located at the farm of Howard Dill. Windsor also boasts the oldest hockey
arenaAn arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
in Canada, the
Stannus Street RinkThe Stannus Street Rink is the oldest ice hockey arena in Canada, having been built in 1897. It still stands in Windsor, Nova Scotia and was featured in the book The Rink: Stories from Hockey's Home Towns by Chris Cuthbert and Scott Russell .The arena stopped playing host to hockey in the 1960's...
, which no longer hosts hockey games. The town's current arena is
Hants Exhibition ArenaThe Hants Exhibition Arena is located in Windsor, Nova Scotia, is home to the Hants County Exhibition , and the following hockey teams: Windsor Royals of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League, Avon View Avalanche, Kings-Edgehill High School Avon River Rats and West Hants Minor Hockey...
. The town was also recently involved in the shooting of a television series called
Road Hockey RumbleRoad Hockey Rumble is a half-hour reality series that was produced by Paperny Films and broadcast on OLN. It follows two all-Canadian hosts, Calum MacLeod and Mark McGuckin. It is in the documentary form but crosses over into the genres of sports, travel, and comedy with an attitude that defies...
. The town of Windsor is also home to the historic Windsor Royals Jr. B Hockey Club, as well as the Avon River Rats Jr. C Hockey Club.
Municipal government
The town operates under a Council/Manager system of local
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
consisting of current elected Mayor Paul Beazley, four elected Councillors and a Chief Administrative Officer.
Further reading
- Joshua M. Smith, Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists, and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783-1820 (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006).
- Garth Vaughan, The Puck stops Here: The origin of Canada's great game - Ice Hockey, (Goose Lane Editions, 1996)