King’s-Edgehill School has been called Windsor home for more than Why 225 years – in fact we’ve always called Windsor our Home. Windsor Windsor? is the perfect location for our school.
A proud history, vibrant lifestyle, a safe community, and a bright future all combine to make Windsor an ideal community in which to live and go to school.
Located in the heart of Nova Scotia at the beginning of the Annapolis Valley, Windsor features the benefits of rural living as well as convenient proximity to Halifax, the provincial capital.
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Windsor is the perfect location for our school. Here are just a couple of reasons: • Windsor is just the right size – not too big, not too small. • Windsor is extremely safe - both for our international students and our domestic students. • We are in very close proximity to great outdoor recreation facilities, including: trails, a ski hill, Nordic skiing park, zip line course, golf courses, beaches, lakes, and much more. • Windsor West Hants Pumpkin Regatta and Weigh-off, the Long Pond Heritage Classic and the Hants County Exhibition, North America’s oldest agricultural fair.
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Windsor Facts and Figures
Community Profile Population Town of Windsor: 3,705 Location Gateway to the Annapolis Valley Closest Regional Centre Kentville, 30 kilometers Closest Major Centre Halifax Regional Municipality, 50 kilometers Size 2,200 acres Nearest Airport Halifax Stanfield International Airport 70 km Source: Wikipedia
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What we know as Windsor today was originally known as Pesaquid, a Mi'kmaq term History meaning "Junction of Waters". This name referred to the meeting point of the Avon and St. Croix rivers, which flow into the Bay of Fundy. French first settled the area around 1685, followed by British settlement beginning in 1749.
Fort Edward was constructed in June 1750 to secure the overland route between Annapolis Royal, the old capital of Nova Scotia, and the new capital at Halifax, founded in 1749. The British colonial officials also intended the fort to assert government authority in the Piziquid area, one of the centres of Acadian settlement in the province.
The wooden blockhouse is all that remains of the historic Fort. A national historic site since 1921, the Blockhouse is the oldest surviving structure of its kind in Canada and one of the few remaining eighteenth century structures in the Province.
In 1764 the Township of Windsor was created, and one year later the first annual Agricultural Fair was held. The fair continues today, both as a tradition, and as a celebration of the region's agricultural ties.
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Photo credit: Town of Windsor/ vlr
History In 1878 Windsor, was incorporated as a Town. Windsor's harbour created a favorable environment for shipping and shipbuilding during the age of sail and it became a major port for shipping and travel. As more efficient land transportation became available, Windsor's importance as a seaport diminished. In 1970, the construction of a causeway across the Avon River closed off shipping to Windsor.
Windsor suffered two major fires: the first on October 17, 1897, which destroyed much of the Town, and the second on January 6, 1924, which destroyed several areas near the town centre.
Today, the economy of Windsor and surrounding area is, for the most part, centered on agriculture, stone monument manufacturing, service industries and emerging bio tech companies. Windsor is within easy commuting distance of Halifax, and a number of its residents are employed in Metro.
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The Little From Canada’s first independent school, to North America’s first agricultural fair, to a world-renowned Pumpkin Regatta, the town of Town of Windsor, is known as the Little Town of Big Firsts.
Big Firsts
Photo credit to: Avard Woolaver 9
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Windsor is the giant pumpkin capital of the universe. The FIRST world FIRST in champion giant gourds were grown on the farm of Howard Dill, which launched an international pumpkin-growing and rowing. Pumpkins The Windsor-West Hants Pumpkin Weigh-off, held on the first Saturday in October, attracts entries from the Maritimes and beyond.
In fact, Windsor, Nova Scotia and Half Moon Bay, California hosted the FIRST-EVER pumpkin weigh-offs. Today there are more than 90 weigh-off sites in the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, and Windsor's own Dill's Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds are sold around the world.
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The FIRST agricultural fair in North America was held in Windsor in FIRST in 1765. After 250 years, the Hants County Exhibition is still going strong. Its grounds are home to many equestrian events. Agricultural Fairs
Photo credit: Hants county Exhibition and the Windsor Agricultural Society.
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Windsor is considered the birthplace of ice hockey, based upon a reference (in a novel by Thomas Chandler Haliburton) of boys from King's Collegiate School playing "hurley", on the frozen waters of 'Long Pond' adjacent to the school's campus during the early 19th century. Thomas Chandler Haliburton, FIRST in recognized as the FIRST author of American humour was a student at King’s circa 1800. Recognized nationally and internationally as the Birthplace of Hockey Hockey. Windsor is the Twin community of Cooperstown New York, the Home of Baseball.
Students from our school still play hockey on "Long Pond", a pond proclaimed by some as the "Cradle of Hockey", located at the farm of Howard Dill.
Photo credit to: Hants Journal 12
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FIRST in Hockey
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Canada’s First Independent School and the First Independent School in the Common wealth
Founded in 1788, KCS was the first independent school in both Canada and the British Commonwealth. Today, we 14
honour the remarkable traditions of excellence, achievement, and leadership that have long defined our School. Page
Things to do in Windsor
Ski Martock
Windsor is home to some of the best skiing in Atlantic Canada with Martock. Open from early December to late March, Martock has facilities for downhill skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing.
For the downhill skiers and snowboarders, the 600-foot mountain has seven trails with two trails ranked as easy for the beginners, and five trails more difficult for the more experienced. For the experts, in addition to the downhill trails there are also the park and half pipe for more daring adventures. Martock also offers a large selection of cross-country trails through the woods again with a range of difficulty.
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Things to do in Windsor
OnTree Fun & Adventure Park
OnTree Park is Nova Scotia’s first high rope course climbing and zip lining park and Canada's largest high ropes course climbing and zip line park. Designed and built based on German ingenuity and standards, it offers excitement and physical challenges for people of all ages and ability. 350 foot Zip lines, bicycle on wire, Tarzan ropes, spider webs, 50 foot base jump, and on 13 unique courses !!
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Windsor Climate
Nova Scotia is the warmest province in Canada enjoying a moderate temperature due to the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Our climate is truly varied. From snow banks to sweltering summer days, the town of Windsor experiences four distinct seasons.
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Plan Your Visit
The best way to find out more about our community is to visit our school in person. Plan your visit now.
info.kes.ns.ca/planavisit and learn more about our community at www.town.windsor.ns.ca
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