Rural Routes - City of St. Thomas (Single Tier Elgin)

403 Talbot St.
St. Thomas, Ontario
N5P 1B7

Ontario Tourism Region : Southwestern

Description From Owner:

Pop. 31,319. City in Elgin C., on Kettle Cr. and Hwys 3 & 4, 29 km S of London. The settlement was founded in 1810 by Capt. Daniel Rapelje from New York State, a veteran of several battles in the War of 1812.
He built a grist mill and laid out his farm in lots, which he sold to settlers. He donated one of the lots for St. Thomas Anglican Church, which was built in 1824 and is still standing.
Also in 1824, Dr. Charles Duncombe and Dr. John Rolph opened Upper Canada's fIrst medical school which they called The Talbot Dispensatory.
Dr. Duncombe was an ardent supporter of William Lyon Mackenzie's Reform Party, played an active role in the Rebellion of 1837, and was forced to flee to the United States after Mackenzie's defeat at Montgomery's Tavern.
On Christmas morning, 1870, fire wiped out half of St. Thomas' business section.
The water supply was low, the hoses were in poor condition, and the only way the volunteer fire department could bring the fire under control was to tear down wooden structures in the fire's path.
In the 1870s both the Canada Southern and the Great Western Railways built their lines through St. Thomas. In 1885, the largest elephant ever in captivity was accidentally killed by a train at St. Thomas after performing with the Barnum and Bailey Circus
In 1985 a statue of Jumbo, 10 percent larger than life size, was erected at the western entrance to the city despite considerable opposition.
The monument has since drawn up to 101,500 visitors in a single year. St. Thomas was the home of Mitchell F. Hepburn, premier of Ontario 1934-1942.
The community was first called Kettle Creek Village and then Stirling, but when the post office was opened in 1825 it was called St. Thomas to honour Col. Thomas Talbot,
the colonizer of southern Ontario, who established thousands of settlers along the Talbot Rd. (The St. was added for assonance).

St. Thomas Aerial Tour from Luke Gibson on Vimeo.

Untitled Document

Map Below gives Canadian Geographical Names
Natural Resources Canada in the County of Elgin.

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Off the beaten track:	Lynhurst, 2km Lyndale, 3km Norman, 5km Whites, 7km Yarmouth Centre, 5km Talbotville Royal, 6km Union, Port Stanley area, 9km Middlemarch, 7km Glanworth, 10km Paynes, St. Thomas area, 7km Lawton's Corners, 10km Paynes Mills, 8km New Sarum, 8km North Ward, 12km Orchard Beach, Port Stanley area, 13km Port Stanley, 13km Mapleton, 10km	Tempo, 11km Dexter, 13km Grimmonds Beach, 13km Invererie Heights, 13km Mitchell Heights, 13km Hubrey, 14km Erie Rest, 14km Frome, 11km Sparta, 12km Brockley, 15km Littlewood, 13km White Oak, 15km Scottsville, 14km Wilton Grove, 17km Lockwood Park, 14km Orwell, 12km Jaffa, 14km	Shedden, 14km Crossley Hunter, 15km Derwent, 17km Southdale, 19km Pond Mills, 19km Cleardale, 19km Bairds, Shedden, 14km Glendale, London area, 19km Southwold, 15km Glen Cairn Woods, 20km Chelsea Green, 21km Gladstone, 19km Southcrest Estates, 21km Fairmont, London area, 22km Sharon, London area, 18km Westmount, London area, 21km
Nearby Lakes:	Pinafore Lake, 2km Union Pond, 8km Sanders Pond, 8km Bell's Pond, 12km Tennants Pond, 15km White's Pond, 12km Springwater Pond, 13km Pond Mills, 18km Westminster Ponds, 19km Walkers Pond, 19km Foster Ponds, 20km Beattie Pond, 20km The Cove, 22km Mud Lakes, 21km Mill Pond, 24km Lake Whittaker, 24km Fanshawe Lake, 31km	Lake Erie, 37km Mud Lake, 31km Spring Lake, 31km Centreville Pond, 41km Sunova Lake, 48km Lake Lisgar, 38km Embro Pond, 49km St. Josephs Lake, 39km Wildwood Lake, 53km Harrington Pond, 53km Hodges Pond, 50km The Mill Pond, 48km Mill Pond, 50km Lake Victoria, 68km Morrison Lake, 68km McCarthy Lake, 68km Trout Lake, 61km	Trotters Lake, 63km Fowlers Pond, 63km Buchanan Lake, 64km Park Haven Lake, 64km Buck Pond, 65km Maple Lake, 66km Shakespeare Pond, 73km Pine Pond, 65km Cooley Pond, 64km Lake Hunger, 61km Burgess Lake, 71km Levey Lake, 71km Spongy Lake, 84km Hofstetter Lake, 83km Willow Lake, 73km Alder Lake, 83km

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