Editing Windsor, Ontario (section)

===19th century===
[[File:Sandwich Township in 1881, Essex County Ontario.jpg|thumb|left|Windsor as depicted in an 1881 map of East and West Sandwich Township. From the ''Illustrated atlas of the Dominion of Canada''.]]

The [[François Baby House]] in downtown Windsor was built in 1812 and houses [[Windsor's Community Museum]] dedicated to local history.

Windsor was the site of [[Battle of Windsor|a battle]] during the 1838 [[Upper Canada Rebellion]]. It was attacked by a band of 400 Americans and rebels from Detroit who burned a steamboat and two or three houses before being routed by the local militia.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Wm. H. |url=https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit |title=Smith's Canadian Gazetteer - Statistical and General Information Respecting All Parts of the Upper Province, or Canada West |date=1846 |publisher=H. & W. Rowsell |location=Toronto |page=[https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit/page/221 221]}}</ref> Later that year, Windsor also served as a theatre for the [[Patriot War]].

[[File:Underground Railroad Monument - Windsor, Ontario.JPG|thumb|right|Underground Railroad Monument]]
In 1846, Windsor had a population of about 300. Two steamboats offered service to Detroit. The barracks were still in operation. There were various tradespeople and other occupations, including bank agencies and post offices.<ref name="auto" /> The city's access to the Canada–US border made it an essential stop for refugee enslaved people gaining freedom in the northern United States along the [[Underground Railroad]]. Many went across the Detroit River to Windsor to escape pursuit by slave catchers.<ref name="Chadwick">{{Cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Bruce |url=https://archive.org/details/travelingundergr00chad/page/272 |title=Traveling the underground railroad: a visitor's guide to more than 300 sites |publisher=Carol Pub. Group |year=1999 |isbn=0806520930 |location=Secaucus, NJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/travelingundergr00chad/page/272 272] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Woodford">{{Cite book |last=Woodford, Arthur M. |title=This is Detroit 1701–2001 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-8143-2914-4}}</ref> There were estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000 African-American refugees who settled in Canada,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Underground Railroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzzBPR0DxdwC |publisher=US Department of Interior |date=September 1995 |page=168 |isbn=9780788146572 |access-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027141703/https://books.google.com/books?id=zzzBPR0DxdwC |url-status=live }}</ref> with many settling in [[Essex County, Ontario]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hill |first=Daniel G. |title=The freedom-seekers: Blacks in early Canada |date=1981 |publisher=Book Society of Canada |isbn=0772552835 |location=Agincourt, Canada |page=48 |oclc=8114887}}</ref><ref name="Switala">{{Cite book |last=Switala |first=William |title=Underground railroad in New Jersey and New York |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=2006 |isbn=9780811746298 |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |page=144}}</ref><ref name="Chadwick" />

Windsor was incorporated as a village in 1854 (the same year the village was connected to the rest of Canada by the [[Grand Trunk Railway]]/[[Canadian National Railway]]), then became a town in 1858, and gained city status in 1892.

The [[Windsor Police Service]] was established on July 1, 1867.

A fire consumed much of Windsor's downtown core on October 12, 1871, destroying over 100 buildings.<ref name="Timeline">{{Cite web |year=2002 |title=The Timeline: Fire of 1871 |url=http://209.202.75.197/digi/chi/timeline.asp?Lang=english |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026073802/http://209.202.75.197/digi/chi/drawpage.asp?RelationID=fire |archive-date=2007-10-26 |access-date=2008-03-14 |website=Settling Canada's South: How Windsor Was Made |publisher=[[Windsor Public Library]]}}</ref>

The ''Windsor Star'' Centennial Edition in 1992 covered the city's past, its success as a railway centre, and its contributions to [[World War I]] and [[World War II]] fighting efforts. It also recalled the naming controversy in 1892 when Windsor aimed to become a city. The most popular names listed in the naming controversy were ''South Detroit'', ''The Ferry'' (from the ferries that linked Windsor to Detroit), ''Windsor'', and Richmond (the runner-up in popularity). ''Windsor'' was chosen to promote the heritage of new English settlers in the city and to recognize [[Windsor Castle]] in Berkshire, England. However, ''Richmond'' was a popular name used until World War II, mainly by the local post office.