Amherstburg is an economic survivor - says local resident

Uncertain times are nothing new for Amherstburg. 

The area was initially settled by merchants following the military when it left Detroit in 1796 to establish Fort Amherstburg (later Fort Malden). The Town was the centre of activity in Essex County. 

Prosperity lasted until 1846 when Great Britain abolished colonial preferences thereby causing a depression in Canada. 

Prosperity returned in 1854 when Canada negotiated the Reciprocity Treaty with the United States enabling goods to travel freely between the countries. 

While the U.S. and Canada suffered difficult times in the 1870s, Amherstburg prospered with the arrival of the Canada Southern Railway connecting commerce between New York and Chicago. 

Unfortunately, winter ice caused substantial difficulty for the railway’s ferry crossing the river such that by 1883 traffic was diverted to Windsor. 

Amherstburg suffered a decline but survived with its location in the centre of the lakes allowing ships to refuel and change crews traveling between the upper and lower lakes. 

More ship captains then were resident locally than anywhere else on the lakes. 

Prosperity returned with major river work on the channels through 1912, followed by river trade during Prohibition (1919-33). Also, various businesses came locally, such as Brunner Mond, Church & Dwight, Marra’s Bread, Calvert Distillery. 

This enabled the Town to survive the Great Depression and be the only municipality in the Windsor-Essex area not to go bankrupt. 

In recent times, industry has been leaving but the Town has a history of surviving.

—Terry Hall

Amherstburg

Amherstburg is an economic survivor - says local resident