Settlement in southwestern
Ontario began along Lake Erie then moved north
into the Thames watershed between 1800 and 1850. Grist mills,
powered by tributaries of the Thames, were built
and towns grew around them.
The Thames valley was the site of
several battles during the War of 1812.
As local farming diversified,
woollen mills, breweries, cheese factories and
dairies prospered. The arrival of railways
(1850s), discovery of oil (1857), introduction of
electricity and telephones (1880s), and the
advent of the automobile (1900s), gradually
changed life in the watershed.
Pollution in the river led to
construction of sewage treatment plants (1900s).
Today the watershed includes some of Canada's
most valuable and diverse agricultural land.
Copyright: © Urban League of
London 1997
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