Heidi Jacobs

delegates gathered on steps of Windsor’s First Baptist ChurchDelegates to the Amherstburg Regular Missionary Baptist Association at Windsor’s First Baptist Church. Photo by Alvin McCurdy, courtesy of the Archives of Ontario.

Walking tour to highlight history of local Black community

In the first half of the 20th century, Windsor was home to a dynamic Black community located in the metropolitan core. Situated east of the downtown commercial district, the McDougall Street Corridor was a mostly self-sufficient African Canadian community bounded loosely by Riverside Drive, Goyeau Street, Giles Street, and Howard Avenue.

This historic neighbourhood emerged during the mid-19th century as African American freedom seekers and free people of colour crossed the Detroit River in search of refuge from enslavement and oppression.