P8141

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Details

ID Number

P8141

Item Name

image

Title

Francois Baby House / Maison Francois Baby

Title (Fre)

Maison Francois Baby

Date

ca 1935 - 1945

Description

A photograph of the Francois Baby House, 254 Pitt St. W., during the fourth stage of its history; looking south from the alley between Riverside Dr. W. and Pitt St. W. [current location of the Cleary Auditorium and Hilton Windsor], this image looks at was originally the front of the house; vandalized and abandoned, the facade has had its original entrance and front windows on the main floor bricked up; the Windsor Star building at the corner of Ferry St. and Pitt St. W. can be seen in the background at left.

History

Francois Baby (1768 - 1852) was active in local life as a politician, militia officer, justice of the peace, business man and office holder. He married Frances Abbott on September 5, 1795 and had eight sons and four daughters. During the 1840s Baby operated a government-leased ferry to Detroit and ran an Inn. He died on August 27, 1852. Jacques Duperon Baby, François’ father, owned about 20 slaves (Black and Indigenous) and upon his death in 1789 some were inherited by Franç​ois and his brother Jacques (James).​ Francois Baby began construction in 1812 on land that he had been occupying for some years. Construction was interrupted when the American Army commandeered the property for use during the beginning of the War of 1812. The house was completed in the summer of 1812 and was similar to other Georgian mansions in Upper Canada at the time. The house underwent many renovations over the years. In 1835 a full-width Regency veranda was added. A fire on October 8, 1850 destroyed a large portion of the house and Baby did little besides repair the worst of the damage. When Baby died in 1852 the house was passed to Edmond Baby who renovated the building and began the reorientation of the house toward Pitt Street. The house passed through a number of borders and by 1890 it had been converted into a duplex. The building was abandoned in 1930. By 1940 ownership of the property had reverted to the City of Windsor because of non-payment of taxes and a committee was appointed to restore the building. In 1956/57 Hiram Walker & Sons donated $37,000 to the project and the Hiram Walker Historical Museum was opened in May of 1958. The museum was renamed "Windsor's Community Museum" in 1996. In February 2016, the museum completed a major expansion project and was renamed Museum Windsor. Museum Windsor consists of the Francois Baby House and Chimczuk Museum. The Francois Baby House has National Historic Site designation for the role of the house during the War of 1812 and the Battle of Windsor in 1838, which took place in the orchard (now parking garage adjacent to house) of the Baby property.

Place made

Canada - Ontario - Windsor

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subjects

254 Pitt St. W. / 254, rue Pitt Ouest

Abandoned buildings / Édifices abandonnés

Commercial facilities / Locaux commerciaux

Dwellings / Habitations

Francois Baby House / Maison Francois Baby

Historic buildings / Monuments historiques

Newspapers / Journaux

Vandalism / Vandalisme

Windsor Star / Le Windsor Star

Windsor's Community Museum / Le Musée communautaire de Windsor