Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada

🇨🇦 Tecumseh is a town in Essex County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is on Lake St. Clair east of Windsor. It is part of the Windsor metropolitan area, and is a part of the Windsor-Essex County region along with Amherstburg, Kingsville, Lakeshore, LaSalle and Leamington. Tecumseh was originally a Franco-Ontarian settlement.

Food processing is a major industry in Tecumseh, as Bonduelle owns a food processing plant near the town. The plant was built by Green Giant in 1931. Green Giant sold the plant in the late 1990s to Family Tradition Foods, who sold it to Carrière Foods in 2006. Carrière Foods was purchased in 2007 by Bonduelle.

The Tecumseh Corn Festival has been recognised as one of the Top 50 Festivals in Ontario by Festivals and Events Ontario.

Tecumseh is surrounded by Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. 🇺🇸 Detroit is easily accessible to Tecumseh residents by the Ambassador Bridge or the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel, both of which are located within the neighbouring municipality of Windsor.

The town is named after Tecumseh, an 18th-century Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands.

History The building of St.Anne’s (Catholic) Parish Church on the corner of Lesperance and Tecumseh Road in 1858 was the start of the Village of Tecumseh. Settled by a few French families whom crossed over from the Detroit River. Land Grants to Charles Lesperance (1775-1860) in 1796 from the British Administrators of the District of Hess is Tecumseh’s start. Later the building of the Great Western Railway brought job seekers and more 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 hotels were established 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 the original settlers of Tecumseh, the majority of them descendants of the Frenchmen who had lived in the area before the arrival of British administrators after the Paris Peace Agreement in 1763. Those that had been living on their River farms kept them. Today the street names from Ouellette Avenue in Windsor to Lesperance Road in Tecumseh are a reminder of the men that cleared the land and farmed it.

As the town of Windsor grew, the overflow of immigrants settled in Tecumseh and other peripheral regions. Indicative of the change was the mix-up created by the introduction of the tomato to the area of Tecumseh. The first post office was opened in 1870, located on the north-east corner of Tecumseh and Lesperance Roads. Called Ryegate Station, its first Postmaster was a Mr. (Joseph) Christie. It was renamed "Tecumseh" in November 1875. 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 Brewery. 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. In 1922 a fire chief was appointed although no fire department was in existence, the fires were fought by town volunteers. The Ontario Provincial Police started policing the town in 1948 with 2 officers.

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 km (8.9 sq mi) (located south and east of the Windsor International Airport) 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.

Communities Besides the town proper of Tecumseh itself, the town of Tecumseh comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including Fairplay, Maidstone, Oldcastle, Paquette, Paquette Corners (partially) and St. Clair Beach (formerly from Maidstone Township).

Transit Tecumseh Transit is the municipal bus service, operated by First Student Canada, which commenced on December 21, 2009. A connection has been made to Transit Windsor services at Tecumseh Mall. The Tecumseh Transit service covers 30 km and 43 stops, and operates using two buses.

Tourism and events Tecumseh hosts many special events throughout the year. • Christmas in Tecumseh (Taking place on November 23, 2018)

The Optimist Club of St. Clair Beach organizes and overseas 2 of Tecumseh's major events • The Taste of Tecumseh • Tecumseh Corn and Music Festival (a.k.a The Tecumseh Corn Festival, or The CornFest).

It is also home to the Tecumseh Historical Museum (a.k.a. Tecumseh Heritage Centre) run by the Tecumseh Area Historical Society (TAHS).

Sport Tecumseh is home to the St. Clair Green Giants of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League and play at Lacasse Park.