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London London, "The Forest City", is situated at the forks of the Thames River, 115 miles southwest of Toronto, 114 miles northeast of Windsor, 28 miles north of Port Stanley on Lake Erie and 35 miles southeast of Grand Bend on Lake Huron; it is thus almost the geographical centre of southwestern Ontario. The county town of Middlesex county and located in the heart of a prosperous agricultural region, it is the fifth city of Ontario in population and seventh in value of manufactures. It is also an important financial centre. In 2006, the population of London was 352,395 living in an area of 6,873 acres. Greater London, including the adjacent built-up parts of London and Westminster townships had a total population of 457,720. History Governor Simcoe selected the "forks of the Thames" as the site for a city in 1793. Indeed he planned to make it the capital of Upper Canada but was forced to choose Toronto instead. The settlement of London was delayed until 1826 when Mahlon Burwell surveyed 240 acres as a town plot. In that same year, Peter McGregor became the first resident and the judicial centre of the district was transferred thither from Victoria. In 1840, with about 2,000 inhabitants, London became a village. It became a town in 1848 and, in 1854, with a population of 10,060 the city of London was incorporated. The Great Western Railway was opened in 1853; within a few years London became an important railway centre and by 1905 it boasted 120 trains per flay. The locomotive on the civic coat of arms is no idle figurehead. With increased transportation facilities, including the development of its own port on Lake Erie (Port Stanley), London became a diversified manufacturing city and centre of wholesale distribution. The City Site and Development London lies in a little basin, flanked by glacial moraines, into which the rivers from the melting ice brought great quantities of sediment producing a rather smooth plain. Trenched by the Thames, it provides excellent, well-drained building sites. The flat-floored valley of the Thames itself with its abandoned "oxbows" and its liability to spring floods is not so well suited although, in later years, it too has been built upon. From the first, the river acted as a barrier, forcing the city to expand north and east; though, with the building of bridges, London South and London West also became parts of the city. Not quite all the land within the eastern part of the city is yet built up, but, toward the north, south and west, the built-up area has overflowed into the adjoining townships. The Pattern of the Urban Landscape The street pattern of London is the usual, conventional, rigid grid, oriented with the township lines. Dundas street, the old Concession I, is the main east-west thoroughfare, continuing eastward as Provincial Highway 2. Richmond street, continuing northward as Highway 4, is the main north-south route. Only a few, like Hamilton Road and Wellington Road, run diagonally. The railroad reaches the centre of the city, causing considerable inter  ruption of the street plan. The city centre still lies within the original 240 acre survey. Here is the court house, built in the early years on the style of Col. Talbot's English home. Not far to the east are the Post Office, City Hall, Public Library, Hotel London and the Canadian National Railway Station. The C.P.R. Station is somewhat to the north. The financial institutions, the market place and chief retail houses are also located here. Subsidiary retail centres extend eastward along Dundas street, north along Richmond street, and on scattered corner locations elsewhere. Industrial plants are found chiefly along the railways and particularly eastern part of the city. London's best residential areas are in the north, while the industrial east contains the poorest. Small homes are also found on the flats of London South. London has two cathedrals, St. Peter's (Roman Catholic) and St. Paul's (Anglican) and many other fine churches. These and numerous excellent school buildings are scattered throughout the city. Parks and playgrounds are also numerous. Victoria Park, established in 1869, near the centre of the city, is the oldest; Queen's Park contains the Fair Buildings; Springbank Park, 325 acres in area, located about four miles down the river, is the largest. On the outskirts of the city are a number of large institutions such as Ontario Hospital in the east, Westminster Hospital to the southeast, the Sanitarium to the west; the Civic Airport to the northeast and the University of Western Ontario to the north. Golf courses and cemeteries also lie outside the city limits. Geographical Significance of London London is the best example of a local regional capital in the province of Ontario. Centrally located in a comparatively uniform and relatively prosperous region, it is protected by distance and by natural barriers from its competitors. With the help of well established communications connecting all parts of its umland, it has developed industries and institutions which dominate in their own constituencies and exert considerable influence, also, outside the immediate umland. Home