Record Atlas
6 eras · 1500–2026 · 9 places

The Detroit and St Clair River borderland

Leamington, Kingsville, Amherstburg, Sarnia, Tecumseh. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1500–1749 Before registers no registers survive

Before registers.
1749–1763 New France — the Detroit River settlements FamilySearch · Geneanet

The first permanent settlements began to appear about 1749 on the Canadian side of the river across from Fort Detroit. The "Assumption Settlement" took its name from its Catholic church.
1763–1791 British rule after the Seven Years' War Library and Archives Canada · FamilySearch · Ancestry

The British took over French territory in the Detroit region after the Seven Years' War; the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763.
1791–1815 Upper Canada — Western District Library and Archives Canada · FamilySearch · Ancestry

Upper Canada was formed in 1791, and in 1792 it was divided into nineteen counties, of which Essex was the eighteenth. Britain gave up Fort Detroit under the Jay Treaty (signed 1794), and Amherstburg and Sandwich were both established in 1796. Fort Malden was built near Amherstburg. The War of 1812 ran from 1812 to 1815.
1815–1867 Upper Canada and the Province of Canada Library and Archives Canada · FamilySearch · Ancestry

Black Americans reached Essex County by the Underground Railroad through Point Pelee, Gosfield (now Kingsville), Colchester, Sandwich and Windsor; Amherstburg and Windsor were the main settlement areas.
1867–2026 Canada — Ontario; Michigan across the river Library and Archives Canada · FamilySearch · Ancestry

Confederation took effect on 1 July 1867. The river is the international border, so a family may appear in Ontario and in Michigan records.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1500–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

9 places on this ground

116 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 56 more.

All record regions · The map