London Ontario is a city local in southwestern Ontario. It officially became a city in 1855 and has had a rich history since it’s inception. London runs along the Quebec City – Windsor corridor, London and Thames were named by John Graves Simcoe. He proposed the site as the capital of Upper Canada.
Michelle Hamilton associate professor of history at Western says that the Thames river played a massive part in the development of London. “Water travel was the main part of transportation at the time, especially for the military. So one of the considerations for having a capital near water was in case of an uprising which there was in the war of 1812 and in the 1830s with a rebellion”.
She also says that in 1937 London suffered a massive flood downtown “There was a widespread flood and it affected a lot of low line levels, there were houses along the Wellington Bridge and those were flooded”. London has also suffered another tragedy involving water.
The Victoria day disaster was a boat crashed with occurred on May 24, 1881 where a ferry capsized in the Thames River, Hamilton explains the cause of the disaster. ” Several hundred people died, they got on the boat which was over populated and on the river and the boats were racing each other which caused the boats to tip widely and led to the crash”. The Victoria day disaster was the largest disaster in the history of London at the time.
Arthur McClelland is a librarian at the London Public Library’s Ivey Family London Room . Most of the city’s archives are held at City Hall or the London Public Library on Dundas Street. He talks about the court being one of the main starting points in civilization coming to London ” the courthouse moved here so of course you have to had judges and police” He also adds that the railway played a major role in London as well
London is diverse community with a long history Londoners can expect more history in the future.
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