Tuesday, February 26, 2008

St Marys, Ontario

St Marys, Ontario Public LibrarySt Marys, Ontario (2006 pop 6,617) is northeast of London, Ontario. In 1854 the community was incorporated as a village and separated from the surrounding Perth County. It became a town in 1864.

When opening Blanshard Township for settlement in 1839, the Canada Company made an arrangement with Thomas Ingersoll, a brother of Laura Secord, to build mills at "the Little Falls" of the Thames. In 1841-43 he erected a sawmill and a grist-mill and in return obtained 337 acres of land in this vicinity. The mills formed the nucleus of a settlement named St. Marys. The building of railways, 1857-60, stimulated development and it became the centre of lumber and limestone quarry industries and the adjacent prosperous agricultural region.

location of St Marys, OntarioIn 2007, the Mayor Jamie Hahn announced the Wonders of St Marys, the seven sites of most interest to visitors and the seven sites important to the residents, including was the library (above right). The library was built in 1905 from local limestone after Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000. It was expanded in 1988.