LONDON, ONTARIO’S VIBRANT PAST
London, Ontario is a flourishing city with a fascinating past. Today, London is home to great entertainment, sports, and culture, and has a remarkable culinary scene and a unique brew culture. It’s a rapidly growing city that has it all. And it’s no coincidence that it’s called London and sits on the Thames River.
In 1793, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, a British Army general and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, named the settlement after London, England and renamed the river the Thames to feel closer to home. He also proposed London as the capital of Upper Canada.
Prior to European contact in the 18th century, the area was occupied by several Neutral, Odawa, and Ojibwe First Nations people.
London saw its first European settlement between 1801 and 1804, and the village was founded in 1826. Since then, London has grown into one of the largest urban municipalities in Ontario with fourteen wards, yet it manages to retain many of its beautiful, historic buildings.
London is a regional centre of health care and education, home to the University of Western Ontario and several hospitals. Today, more than 500,000 people call London home, the number growing every day.
