Windsor (NS)

Windsor, NS, incorporated as a town in 1878, population 3785 (2011c), 3709 (2006c). The Town of Windsor is located in central Nova Scotia, at the mouth of the Avon and St Croix rivers. Its short distance from HALIFAX (66 km) has long made Windsor a town of commuters.

History

It was first settled by ACADIANS in 1684 and was called Pisiquid, a name of Micmac origin. The English township of Windsor (after Windsor, England) was established in 1764, and wealthy Halifax businessmen and politicians were granted land here.

During the AMERICAN REVOLUTION, troops were kept at Windsor's Fort Edward to ensure the loyalty of Annapolis Valley residents. Following the war, many LOYALISTS came to the town. They farmed, traded and opened shops, disrupting the pastoral luxury of the big Windsor estates. In 1789 Bishop Charles INGLIS established the UNIVERSITY OF KING'S COLLEGE, the oldest English-language university in Canada. It is now located in Halifax.

Windsor thrived during the 1800s, gaining sawmills, furniture and fertilizer factories, a foundry, tannery, cotton mill and plaster mine. The arrival of the first train to Windsor in 1858 tied the town closer to Halifax.

Present Day

Today, Windsor is mainly residential. Light manufacturing and tourism are the main industries. Visitors may see the remains of Fort Edward, Haliburton House - the home of Judge Thomas Chandler HALIBURTON, the famous 19th-century author and creator of Sam Slick - and Shand House, the home of Clifford and Henrie Shand, a wealthy family in Windsor.