Tecumseh, Ontario

Tecumseh
Town (lower-tier)
Town of Tecumseh
Tecumseh Town Hall
Seal
Motto(s): A community proud of the past, confident in the future - Une communauté fière de son passé et confiant dans son avenir
Tecumseh Location in southern Ontario
Coordinates: 42°14′35″N 82°55′32″W / 42.24306°N 82.92556°W / 42.24306; -82.92556Coordinates: 42°14′35″N 82°55′32″W / 42.24306°N 82.92556°W / 42.24306; -82.92556[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Essex
Founded	1792
Government
• Mayor	Gary McNamara
• Member of Parliament	Cheryl Hardcastle (NDP)
• Provincial Representative	Percy Hatfield (NDP)
Area[2]
• Land	94.64 km2 (36.54 sq mi)
Population (2016)[2]
• Total	23,229
• Density	245.4/km2 (636/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern Time Zone)
Forward sortation area	N8N
Area code(s)	519 and 226
Website	www.tecumseh.ca

St Clair Beach

Tecumseh /tɪˈkʌmsi/ is a town in Essex County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.^[1] It is on Lake St. Clair east of Windsor and had a population of 23,229 at the 2016 census. It is part of the Windsor census metropolitan area.

Tecumseh enjoys long summers and mild winters. Originally a small Franco-Ontarian settlement, Tecumseh now offers many restaurants, shopping areas, medical facilities, as well as industrial and commercial enterprises.

Food processing is a major industry in Tecumseh, as Bonduelle owns a food processing plant near the heart of the town. The plant originally was Green Giant 1931 (Fine Foods of Canada) and Pillsbury Company. Green Giant sold in the late 1990s to Family Tradition Foods. Family Traditions sold the food processing plant to Carrière Foods in 2006. Carrière Foods was then purchased in 2007 by Bonduelle.^[3]

The Tecumseh Corn Festival has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Festivals in Ontario by Festivals and Events Ontario, which is quite an honour considering over 3000 festivals taking place in Ontario each year.^[4]

History

In 1792, Tecumseh, then known as Ryegate Postal Station, had only three families. Ryegate Postal Station was renamed in 1912 during the death centennial of Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee Tribe who was killed at battle in the War of 1812. Tecumseh had a large Franco-Ontarian population. When nearby Windsor started to grow into the area, there arose conflict between the Loyalists and the Canadiens.

The creation of Tecumseh Road in 1838 and the establishment of the Great Western Railway opened up the area for settlement. The town became an important railway depot and stopover for travellers. County residents took horse and buggy into Tecumseh and then transferred onto the train, journeying by rail the rest of the way into Windsor. Several popular hotels were started in Tecumseh to accommodate travellers. The Bedell Hotel, the Soulliere Inn, the Hebert and the Hotel Perreault were some of the places most frequented by travellers and locals alike.

The French were for the most part the original settlers of Tecumseh, the majority of them descendants of the Frenchmen who had established their seigneural land holdings along the banks of the Detroit River in 1700s.

As the Town of Windsor grew, Tecumseh began to experience new blood when the overflow of immigrants coming to the city began to settle in the peripheral regions as well. Indicative of the change was the mix-up created by the introduction of the tomato to the area of Tecumseh. Many of the English residents of the community refused to touch the suspicious red vegetable believing it to be a ″Love Potion″ concocted by the amorous Frenchmen. The first post office was located on the northeast corner of Tecumseh and Lesperance and was operated by a Mr. Christie. Some of the first businesses in Tecumseh included a lumber mill operated by J.B.Cada; a grocery store operated by Arthur Cecile; a cheese factory on Banwell Road operated by Joseph Breault; a bakery owned by John Dugell; three butcher shops; a canning factory and a brewery eventually closed under Carling Company. In 1921 it was felt that Tecumseh was not getting its fair share of improvements in proportion to the taxes paid to the municipality of Sandwich East. A group of people headed by Malcolm Clapp petitioned the legislature to separate from the township and incorporate as the Town of Tecumseh with a population of 978. Dr. Paul Poisson was appointed as the first mayor of the town.The real growth in Tecumseh occurred in 1931 with the establishment of the Green Giant Factory as Fine Foods of Canada. Green Giant (now Bonduelle) is still located in Tecumseh and continues to employ full and part-time workers.

As the population grew, so did the demands for services. The Ontario Provincial Police started policing the Town in 1948 with 2 officers. In 1922 a fire chief was appointed although no fire department was in existence, the fires were fought by town volunteers.

In 1999, as part of a reorganization of Essex County, Tecumseh was merged with the Village of St. Clair Beach, and the Township of Sandwich South into the Town of Tecumseh. In 2003, the City of Windsor annexed approximately 23 square kilometres (8.9 sq mi) from the Town of Tecumseh. Now considered to be a bedroom community of Windsor, Tecumseh is often cited as an example of urban sprawl; new subdivisions have developed on some of Canada's most valuable agricultural land beginning in the late 1980s.

Demographics

Tecumseh has a population of 23,229 people, a decrease of 1.6% from the 2011 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Tecumseh was $90,206, which is above the Ontario provincial average of $60,455. Most of the population is of Franco-Ontarian descent.^[5]

Mother tongue:

• English only 17,535
• French only 1,915
• English and French 1,734
• Other language(s) 3,040

Aboriginal population:

• Aboriginal identity population 364
• Non-Aboriginal identity population 23,860

Visible minority population characteristics:

• Chinese 200
• South Asian 460
• Black 55
• Filipino 210
• Latin American 105
• Southeast Asian 87
• West Asian 15
• Visible minority, n.i.e. 35
• Multiple visible minority 10
• Not a visible minority 22,805

Infrastructure

Culture

Sister towns

• Frosinone, Italy (May 2009)
• Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland (April 23, 2009)

See also

• List of townships in Ontario

References

External links

• Official website