In his day, distillers sold their products in unmarked barrels, but Hiram Walker set a precedent by putting his product in bottles that bore his name: Walker's Club Whisky. His product was immediately popular and became the first Canadian brand of whisky to be marketed around the world. Success in the U.S. prompted U.S. competitors to lobby Congress and forced Hiram Walker to add the word "Canadian" to the name.

As his success grew, Walker purchased more land, continued to build homes for his employees, established and provided free public utilities, built St. Mary's Anglican Church in memory of his wife, Mary Abigail, who died in 1870, campaigned for good schools and supported them generously.

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In 1882, he built a short railway to connect with his new farm in the interior of Essex County. By 1898, the railway went as far as Kingsville. This transformed Walkerville from a small village adjacent to Windsor into an important town. To facilitate his journey back to Detroit and to connect up with his new railroad, Walker established his own ferry from his Walkerville plant to Detroit.

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Walker never sold the land or the company-built cottages. Consequently, he was able to control the type of individual that would live in the village

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Walker provided fire and police protection, street lighting, well-paved and drained streets and running water. Walkerville was a model community unparalleled in Ontario due to its high standard of urban design and building quality provided by the best professional advice on architecture and planning available at that time.