The Dominion House Tavern, built before 1850, is the oldest remaining continuously run tavern in the Windsor-Detroit Border region and one of the oldest in Ontario. [1] [2]
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in most cases, where travelers receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that has a license to put up guests as lodgers. The word derives from the Latin taberna whose original meaning was a shed, workshop, stall, or pub.
Ontario is one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province accounting for 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is also Ontario's provincial capital.
From its commencement it has served and housed many residents and travelers while the stagecoach ran from Windsor to Amherstburg. [3] It has been a licensed tavern since 1869, and a popular inn since the 1880s; frequented often by judges, juries and county government officials until the 1970s when the Sandwich courthouse closed. [4] [5]
Windsor is a city in Ontario and the southernmost city in Canada. It is on the southern shore of the Detroit River, due south and directly across the river from Detroit, Michigan. Windsor is a major contributor to Canada's automotive industry and has a storied history and a diverse culture. Known as the "Automotive Capital of Canada", Windsor's industrial and manufacturing heritage is responsible for how the city has developed through the years.
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging and usually food and drink. They are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommodation for horses.
The original "DH" inn (run by Albert Lininger), burnt down in 1879, and was originally located on the south side of Sandwich Street across from today's building which was quickly rebuilt within that year. [6] [7] Many farmers would stop on their trips from LaSalle and River Canard, while transporting their produce by horse and wagon to Detroit's Eastern Market. [8]
LaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor and part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and is located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement area in Southwestern Ontario, and the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Canada west of the Quebec border. The town was named for explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and includes Fighting Island, in the Detroit River at its western side, an island that is privately owned by the world's largest chemical company, BASF.
River Canard is a hamlet of roughly 500 people in the northern part of Amherstburg, Ontario and the southern part of Lasalle, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Canard River and is approximately 12 miles south of Windsor, Ontario. It is home to St. Joseph's Church, an attractive French-Canadian church similar to St. Joachim Church in Lakeshore, and Ste. Anne's Church in Tecumseh. The town has a bowstring arch bridge that carries Essex County Road 8 over the Canard River, a tributary of the Detroit River.
Detroit is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the largest United States city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of Wayne County. The municipality of Detroit had a 2017 estimated population of 673,104, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music and as a repository for art, architecture and design.
The Dominion House has been owned by many people over its many years, including Mr. Daniel Marentette from the late 1880s until his death on July 28, 1902, then sold to Mr. Eugene Breault who was a long-time friend of the Marentette family. [9] [10] Capt. John McCarthy purchased it, and then Lorne White during the first prohibition years. [11] William and Jean Boyer who owned it during the rest of prohibition years, witnessed the construction of the Ambassador Bridge and housed many bridge workers. [12]
Sid Walman, who arrived from Toronto and wanting to get into the restaurant business, made the "DH' popular by serving the University crowd and locals, as well as opening up the basement for poetry readings and allowing professors to hold classes. [13] After 48 years, Sid sold the Dominion House to long-time employee and bartender Amanda Heiser. Much effort has been put into keeping much of the place's historic past intact. The Dominion House is currently owned by Kristian Neill and Chris Mickle.
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the most populous city in Canada, with a population of 2,731,571 in 2016. Current to 2016, the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA), of which the majority is within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), held a population of 5,928,040, making it Canada's most populous CMA. Toronto is the anchor of an urban agglomeration, known as the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario, located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.
Today, it still holds to its old fashioned English pub style. Covering its walls are antique knickknacks and traditional pub pictures. [14] In the basement, remnants of rum running tunnels from prohibition years can be found. [15] It is still frequented and enjoyed by University students, professors and locals. [16] The Dominion House is number 8666 in the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
A tchotchke is a small bauble or miscellaneous item. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the regional speech of New York City and elsewhere. It is Slavic in origin.
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.
