Walker, Hiram National Historic Person
Windsor, Ontario
Hiram Walker
© Library and Archives Canada / PA-134862
Address :
2072 Riverside Drive East, Windsor, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1971-10-14
Life Date:
1816 to 1889
Other Name(s):
-
Walker, Hiram
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Industrialist, developed distillery, ferry and railway in Windsor, Ontario
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 2072 Riverside Drive East, Windsor, Ontario
Massachusetts born, Hiram Walker had by the 1850s become a successful general merchant, distiller and grain dealer in Detroit. After Michigan adopted prohibition in 1855 he acquired land across the river in Canada where he established a distillery and mill which became the nucleus of the company town of Walkerville. Soon the Walker enterprises had expanded to include cattle finishing (using distillery wastes), a river ferry, and a railway to transport the company's products. Although Walker himself lived in Canada only from 1859 to 1864, he played an important role in the economic development of western Ontario.