Windsor, Quebec Explained

Windsor
Settlement Type:City
Pushpin Map:Canada Southern Quebec
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in southern Quebec
Coordinates:45.5667°N -72°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Canada
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Quebec
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Name2:Estrie
Subdivision Type3:RCM
Subdivision Name3:Le Val-Saint-François
Established Title1:Constituted
Established Date1:December 29, 1999
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Sylvie Bureau
Leader Title1:Federal riding
Leader Name1:Richmond—Arthabaska
Leader Title2:Prov. riding
Leader Name2:Richmond
Area Total Km2:15.00
Area Land Km2:14.56
Population Total:5419
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:372.2
Population Blank1 Title:Pop 2011-2016
Population Blank1: 1.7%
Population Blank2 Title:Dwellings
Population Blank2:2422
Timezone:EST
Utc Offset:−05:00
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:−04:00
Postal Code Type:Postal code(s)
Postal Code:J1S 2L7
Area Code:819
Blank Name:Highways
Blank Info:

Windsor is a town of 5,300 people, part of the Le Val-Saint-François Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada.

History

Apart from the Abenaki Indian camps in this area in the 1600s, Windsor was unpopulated until the early 19th century, when Governor General Prescott granted a tract of land to Joseph Brown to thank him for his service to the Crown. In 1876, when French-Canadian colonist Michel Cloutier acquired land, a rift grew between Francophones and Anglophones, with one side locating in the Township municipality and the other in the village of Windsor Mills. Windsor Mills was elevated to town status in 1899, and took its current name in 1914. The name originates from the village of Berkshire, where Windsor Castle, built ca. 1344 at the request of King Edward III, is located. While most of Windsor's economy is built on the pulp and paper industry and textile manufacturing, there are also some worthy attractions. This includes the Poudrière de Windsor, which manufactured black explosive powder in Canada around 1864.

During World War II the Royal Canadian Air Force built and operated No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan[1] near Windsor. The school opened on 34 June 1940 and closed on 25 August 1944. The airfield was located southwest of the town near .[2] A film, "Knights with Wings",[3] about flight training in the BCATP, was filmed at the flying school at Windsor Mills. "An RCAF Pilot's Story 1939-1945: the Memoirs of Ernest E. Allen", recounts some of his experiences learning to fly at Windsor Mills in 1940-41.[4]

On December 29, 1999, the village municipality of Saint-Grégoire-de-Greenlay was merged into the town of Windsor.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Windsor had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 14.53km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[5]

Mother tongue (2011)

LanguagePopulationPct (%)
French only5,12096.1%
English only1653.1%
English and French350.7%
Non-official languages100.2%

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hatch . F. J. . The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, 1939-1945 . Directorate of History, Department of National Defence . 1983 . Ottawa . 0-660-11443-7 . 206.
  2. Canada Department of Mines and Resources, Surveys and Engineering Branch . Air Navigation Edition Ottawa-Montreal . Hydrographic and Map Service . September 1942 .
  3. see "Knights with Wings," YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqoVnJPBJak; see also Eastern Townships Archives Portal, "Item P001 - Knights with Wings, R.C.A.F. flight school, Windsor Mills, Quebec", Eastern Townships Resource Centre. https://www.townshipsarchives.ca/knights-with-wings-r-c-f-flight-school-windsor-mills-quebec
  4. Web site: Archived copy . 2019-09-13 . 2018-06-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180624103137/http://www.doralholdings.com/eallen/ . dead .
  5. Web site: Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec . . February 9, 2022 . August 29, 2022.