Elgin County Museum's New Exhibit Open with Talk on 1870s Architect David Kilpatrick

Elgin County Museum's New Exhibit Opens with Talk on 1870’s Architect David Kilpatrick 

A new exhibit illustrating life in St. Thomas and Elgin County in the 1870s opens January 22nd at the Elgin County Heritage Centre, 460 Sunset Drive. The show features a detailed examination of the decade’s principal architect David Kilpatrick curated by local historian Paul Baldwin.

The 1870s saw tremendous growth in St. Thomas thanks to the arrival of the Canada Southern and Great Western Railways which turned the sleepy village into a burgeoning metropolis and put it on the road to becoming Canada’s Railway Capital. Huge commercial blocks, many of which still stand, bloomed along Talbot Street housing everything from merchants, banks, and newspapers to a large number of fraternal societies. 

Meanwhile, hundreds of farms across the county witnessed the beginnings of the mechanization of agriculture. The demand for horse-drawn mowers, reapers, and binders saw the growth of factories in nearly every major community across the province including St. Thomas. 

Join us for a presentation by Paul Baldwin on David Kilpatrick, Architect, on Wednesday, January 22nd at 7:30 pm. Elgin County Heritage Centre, 460 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas.

Co-sponsored by the Elgin Historical Society and Elgin County Museum

For more information call Ally at 519-631-1460 ext. 193.