Tourism London - Index

Tourism London - tourismlondon - Index

Museum London
access to the beaches of
these lakes.
People who have lived in
larger centres often marvel
at the commute to work, and
being able to sneak an hour
during the day to catch a
child’s school event or doctor’s
appointment. No wonder
London is known as a great
place to raise a family.
If you’re here on business,
you should know that
a thriving commercial centre
quickly sprouted in the early
19th century here at Simcoe’s
dream site. Halfway along the
John Labatt Centre
Toronto-Detroit corridor,
London has always been a
strategic location for industry
because we’re so handy to
major markets. In fact, 150
million people now live in
American and Canadian urban
centres just a day’s drive from
here. With frequent and direct
flights to Toronto, Montreal,
Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary
and Detroit, London offers
on-the-go business types the
best of both worlds: affordable
personal and corporate
lifestyles just a flight away
from major centres.
Speaking of business, the
next time you twist the cap
off a bottle of Blue, think of
John Kinder Labatt, the first
businessman to capitalize on
this city’s strategic location.
In the 1850s he used the
beginnings of a vast railway
network to broaden beer
sales beyond the thirsty
market of the local British
garrison to the rest of Canada
and the United States.
Many other national
success stories have followed
through the years—3M
Canada Inc., TD Canada
Trust, London Life Insurance
Company and Ellis-Don, to
name a few. Thanks to the
vision of our own Sir Adam
Beck, we became a society of
push-button convenience. The
father of the former Ontario
Hydro, Beck brought affordable
electricity to the masses
in the early 20th century.
Originally, big business
meant big money and
big families. The Jeffreys,
London Life’s founding family,
spawned generations of the
city’s power elite, as did the
14–LONDON VISITOR
Blackburns, Cronyns, Stevens
and Iveys. Clans like these
pulled a small 19th-century
town out the backwoods and
put it on the map for decades
to come.
So did the British garrison,
installed here in 1838
to fortify the region from a
feared American invasion.
Garrison events like Canada’s
first grand steeplechase
brought dash to what was
still a frontier post. Britishtrained
officers brought along
their proper British manners.
Many had artistic training,
producing dozens of sketches
and paintings of 19th century
London.
Speaking of business,
the next time you
twist the cap off a
bottle of Blue, think of
John Kinder Labatt,
the fi rst businessman
to capitalize on
this city’s strategic
location.
Although our city is not so
far from the American border,
the garrison years entrenched
its British identity. Some say
that image has stuck. Stuffy,
staid and provincial used to
be the way people, who of
course didn’t know any better,
criticized this affluent corner
of southwestern Ontario.
Today, a vibrant multi-cultural
presence enhances all aspects
of life in the city.
We’ve never been a boomor-bust
type of place and