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.
