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• London and Port Stanley Railway, The
  After the Great Western Railway reached London in 1853, local businessmen and politicians began promoting a competitive line south to Lake Erie. The London and Port Stanley Railway began operations in 1856. Like most early Canadian railways, it was expensive to build and difficult to pay off, but it contributed enormously to the local economy. Its main business was shipping coal from Pennsylvania and carrying tourists to and from the lakeshore. The City of London...

• St. Thomas Canada Southern Railway Station
  The St. Thomas Canada Southern (CASO) Station, financed by American railway promoters, was constructed between 1871 and 1873 to serve as both the passenger station for St. Thomas and CASO's corporate headquarters. During the 1920s, the station was one of the busiest in Canada. The Canada Southern rail route through southwestern Ontario ultimately linked Chicago and New York City, and was instrumental in the economic development and growth of St. Thomas. Designed in the Italianate...

• Alma College
  In response to a petition from a provisional Board of Management appointed in 1876, the Ontario Government granted a charter the following year for the erection of a ladies' college in St. Thomas. In this building, designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by James Balfour of Hamilton, Alma College was opened in October 1881. The establishment of the College resulted largely from the contributions of residents of St. Thomas and Elgin County and the...

• Captain Daniel Rapelje 1774-1828
  Emigrating from New York State to the Long Point Settlement in 1802, Rapelje later received 200 acres of land on the south side of the Talbot Road at Kettle Creek. He settled here with his family in 1810. A veteran of Lundy's Lane and other battles of the War of 1812, he became a captain in the 1st Middlesex Militia. In 1814, he built a log grist-mill and subsequently divided a portion of his land into town lots. The settlement that Rapelje established formed the nucleus of the city of St. Thomas.

• Dr. Charles Duncombe 1791-1867
  This house was built in 1848 by Dr. Elijah Duncombe, brother of Dr. Charles Duncombe. The latter, born in Connecticut, came to Upper Canada in 1819 and settled on this property shortly thereafter. In 1824, with Dr. John Rolph, he opened at St. Thomas the province's first medical school, named "The Talbot Dispensatory" in honour of Col. Thomas Talbot. Charles Duncombe later moved to Burford Township and in 1830, was elected to the legislature as...

• Edison Homestead, The
  On this site stood the home of Samuel Edison, a Loyalist from New Jersey who had moved to Nova Scotia in 1783 and settled here in 1811. During the War of 1812, he served as a captain in the 1st Middlesex Militia. Tradition maintains that this community was named Vienna at his suggestion. One of his sons, Samuel Jr., supported the reform movement in Upper Canada, and after taking part in the Rebellion of 1837...

• Ellis Wellwood Sifton, V.C. 1891-1917
  Born and educated in Wallacetown, Sifton joined the 18th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, in October 1914. During the Canadian attack on Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917, his company was held up by the fire of a German machine gun. Lance-Sergeant Sifton charged it single handed, killed the crew and held the position against enemy counter-attack until his comrades arrived. In carrying out this gallant act, he was killed, but his conspicuous valour undoubtedly saved...

• Founding of Aylmer, The
  In October 1817, John Van Patter, an emigrant from New York State, obtained 200 acres of land and became the first settler on the site of Aylmer. During the 1830s, a general store was opened and village lots sold. Originally called Troy, in 1835 it was renamed Aylmer after Lord Aylmer, then Governor-in-Chief of British North America. By 1851, local enterprises included sawmills and flour-mills powered by water from Catfish Creek. Aided by easy access...

• Founding of Springfield, The
  About 1850, some ten years after this area was settled, a school and a Methodist meeting house were erected here on the town-line between the townships of South Dorchester and Malahide. Shortly afterwards, a post office named Clunas was opened, with Archibald Clunas as postmaster. Although a village plot called Springfield was surveyed in 1857, its growth was slow until the Canada Southern Railway, completed in 1873, selected Springfield as a station site. The community...

• Port Burwell Lighthouse 1840
  The Port Burwell lighthouse was constructed in 1840. It was part of a national network of light stations equipped with beacon lights to warn or guide ships at sea. The Port Burwell light was used to aid navigation and commercial shipping of local timber on Lake Erie. The octagonal, tapered tower is 13.7 metres high but, because of its location on a hilltop, the lantern is 29.3 metres above the water. Its fixed, white light...

• Quaker Settlement at Sparta, The
  Jonathan Doan (1765-1847), a member of the Society of Friends, came to Upper Canada from Pennsylvania about 1789. He settled first in the Niagara peninsula, and then purchased 200 acres of wilderness here in south Yarmouth Township in 1813. A few years later, Doan became a land agent for the Honourable James Baby. He acquired 3,000 acres for settlement and revisited Niagara and Pennsylvania to recruit fellow Quakers. A community known as the Quaker Settlement...

• RCAF Technical Training School
  The only facility of its kind in Ontario during the Second World War, No. 1 Technical Training School, St. Thomas, was established by the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1939 to produce skilled ground crews for active wartime service. It was housed here in this hospital complex and was operated in compliance with Canada's commitment to establish air training facilities in sites removed from the theatre of war. Equipped to handle more than 2,000 students...

• Honourable John Rolph, M.D. 1793-1870, The
  This property once belonged to John Rolph, a prominent physician, lawyer and legislator. Born in England, he emigrated to Upper Canada in 1812. In 1824, with Dr. Charles Duncombe, he established at St. Thomas the province's first medical school, the "Talbot Dispensatory." A reformer, Rolph represented Middlesex in the assembly, 1824-29, and Norfolk, 1836-37. Although not an active participant in the Rebellion of 1837, he was so seriously implicated that he was compelled to flee...

• Honourable Mitchell F. Hepburn 1896-1953, The
  Ontario's eleventh prime minister was born in nearby Yarmouth Township and educated at St. Thomas Collegiate. After serving in World War I, he was elected to the federal parliament in 1926 as member for Elgin West. In 1930 he was named leader of the Ontario Liberal party and resigned his federal seat in 1934 to become prime minister of Ontario. His administration established pensions for the blind and the aged, compulsory pasteurization of skim milk...

• Jumbo
  Near this site on September 15, 1885, one of the best known and most beloved animals met an untimely death when he was struck by a railway locomotive. Jumbo, the 13,000-pound African elephant, had been brought to North America in 1882 from the London Zoo where for seventeen years thousands had been fascinated by the mammoth creature. His purchase for £2,000 by the American, P.T. Barnum, raised a nation-wide outcry in Britain and daily reports...

• Lieutenant-Colonel John Bostwick 1780-1849
  Born in Massachusetts, Bostwick came as a child to Norfolk County. He was appointed high constable of the London District in 1800 and sheriff in 1805. A deputy-surveyor, he laid out some of the earliest roads in the Talbot Settlement and in 1804 was granted 600 acres here at the mouth of Kettle Creek. After serving as a militia officer throughout the War of 1812, he settled on the site of Port Stanley and founded this community. Bostwick represented Middlesex in the legislative assembly 1821-24. He donated the land for this church, which was completed in 1845, and is buried in its churchyard.

• Lieutenant-Colonel Mahlon Burwell 1783-1846
  Born of Loyalist parents, Burwell became a deputy-surveyor in 1809 and was instructed to lay out the Talbot Road for settlement. He was granted 600 acres of land in Southwold Township where he settled in 1815. A close associate of Col. Thomas Talbot, Burwell carried out extensive surveys in southwestern Upper Canada which prepared the way for settlement. He served in the War of 1812 as lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Middlesex Militia, was a justice...

• St. Peter's Church 1827
  A fine example of early Gothic revival architecture, this attractive church lies in the midst of the original "Talbot Settlement." The nave was erected by the congregation in 1827, and the belfry and tower, added in 1845 to accommodate a bell donated by the Earl of Galloway, adhered to the original style. In 1849, Bishop John Strachan consecrated the church, and two years later the Reverend James Stewart became first resident priest of the parish...

• St. Thomas' Church 1824
  This church was completed in 1824 on land given by Capt. Daniel Rapelje, the founder of the city of St. Thomas. It is one of the province's finest remaining examples of Early English Gothic Revival architecture. In 1825 a tower, steeple and chancel were added with the aid of a donation from Col. Thomas Talbot. The first incumbent, the Rev. Alexander Mackintosh, a missionary deacon who served from 1824 to 1829, was also the village...

• Talbot Road, The
  This road, named after Col. Thomas Talbot, the founder of the Talbot Settlement, was one of Upper Canada's earliest pioneer highways. Surveyed in 1804 by John Bostwick, it ran from Sayle's Mills (Waterford) to Port Talbot. In 1809 portions of the road line were changed by Mahlon Burwell who ran it through the site of St. Thomas. Two years later he was ordered to extend the road to Amherstburg and to survey branch lines connecting with the settlements to the north. By means of this early colonization road much of the north shore of Lake Erie was settled.

• Trinity Anglican Church 1836
  This frame building was begun in 1836 and completed the following year. An example of simple early Gothic Revival architecture, this church was constructed as a result of the interest and substantial financial assistance of Lieutenant-Colonel Mahlon Burwell (1783-1846). A noted land surveyor, Burwell was the founder of this community and served as a justice of the peace and a member of the legislative assembly. The Venerable John Strachan, Archdeacon of York, preached the first sermon in Trinity Church and the first resident clergyman to serve its congregation was the Reverend Thomas B. Read.