Tecumseh's heritage

The Town of Tecumseh is an area rich in heritage. Two historical societies provide residents and visitors with information on Tecumseh's past and a place to display the Town and surrounding area's rich history.

The Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.O.18 (Act) provides a framework for helping municipalities conserve properties of significant heritage value or interest. It also enables and encourages citizen participation in heritage conservation locally. Through the Act, the Town of Tecumseh established a Heritage Committee. View the Heritage Committee page for more information on its terms of reference. View our Street Recognition page to learn how the Town of Tecumseh plans on honouring its veterans through the renaming of certain streets and replacing those street signs with a new sign that would have a “poppy” on it and the name of the veteran. Have a look at the Town of Tecumseh archives of its old records, pictures, etc. The Town also has information on its twinned communities.

Municipal register of cultural heritage properties

The Municipal Register is the official list or record of cultural heritage properties that have been identified as being important to the community. Section 27 of the Ontario Heritage Act requires the Clerk of every local municipality to keep a current, publicly accessible "Municipal Register" of properties of cultural heritage value or interest situated in the municipality. View the Town of Tecumseh's municipal register.

Information on how properties are included in the municipal register

The "Municipal Register" must include all properties in the municipality that are designated under Part IV (individual designation) and Part V (district designation) of the Ontario Heritage Act. As of 2005, the Ontario Heritage Act also allows municipalities to include on the Municipal Register properties of cultural heritage value that have not been designated. This is known as "Listing".

"Listing" is a means to formally identify properties that have cultural heritage value or interest to the community. It is an important tool in planning for their conservation and now provides a measure of interim protection.

The "Municipal Register" includes both designated and listed properties and has the following benefits:

  • The Register recognizes properties of cultural heritage value in the community.
  • The Register promotes knowledge and enhances an understanding of the community's cultural heritage.
  • The Register is a planning document that should be consulted by municipal decision makers when reviewing development proposals or permit applications. The Register provides easily accessible information about cultural heritage properties for land-use planners, property owners, developers, the tourism industry, educators, and the general public.
  • The Register provides interim protection for listed properties.
  • Owners of "Listed" properties must give the Council of the municipality at least 60 days' notice of their intention to demolish or remove a building or structure on the property. This allows time for the municipality to decide whether to begin the designation process to give long-term protection to the property.

Council approval is required to add cultural heritage properties that have not been designated to the Register. Requests to list a property on the Municipal Register may come from property owners, municipal Heritage Committees, municipal heritage, or planning staff, local historical societies, or residents' associations.

Heritage sites

Banwell Road Area Black Settlement

Provincial Historical Plaque and cemeteryCemetery at Banwell Road

 

In the late 1830s, Black families escaping slavery in the United States established the Banwell Road Area Black Settlement. These families settled in the Banwell Road area of Sandwich East, obtaining land from organizations such as The Coloured Industrial Society and the Refugee Home Society. Planned settlements provided a strong support system and close-knit communities for people fleeing enslavement. They owned thriving family farms and were employed in various occupations. Most importantly, the land settlement program gave purchasers security and a chance to control their own destinies through land ownership. These early settlers played an integral role in the development of the Windsor area by attracting newcomers and providing support to those who chose to make Canada their home.

The Ontario Heritage Trust's Provincial Plaque Program commemorates significant people, places, and events in Ontario's history. Since 1956, over 1,250 provincial plaques have been unveiled.

Wise Words from Chief Tecumseh

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you rise in the morning give thanks for the food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes for your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes, they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home." Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation