John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, and his entourage arrived at the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Thames River in 1793 on route from Niagara to Detroit1. The situation of London was favourable in Simcoe’s eyes as a site for the district’s new capital. Although isolated in an unrelenting swath of virgin Carolinian forest, London was ideally situated in relation to the United States. Its isolation and distance from the border provided a shield from potential American invaders, thus offering a secure place from which to manage the political affairs of Upper Canada. It was also chosen since it would establish a British presence in the region, thus minimizing the possibility that the Western Territories would be assimilated by the United States (Whebell 1992).
Simcoe’s capital plans would not be realized, however, due to the limitations of such an isolated site. London’s loss of the capital appeased those to
1 Details of Simcoe’s arrival open the two most cited histories of the city, Armstrong’s The
Forest City: An Illustrated History and Miller’s This Was London: The First Two Centuries.
This chapter does not intend to retell their stories, but rather synthesize a foundational understanding of the emerging retail sector as it relates to the early development of London.
the east who saw the plan as illogical and logistically impossible (Mombourquette 1992). Although the capital was not constructed following Simcoe’s vision, the selection of the site did provide the possibility for later settlement. A Crown reserve of 3850 acres which was established at the Forks of the Thames River for the capital provided land for the eventual settlement (Armstrong 1986, 21). Simcoe’s largest mark on the area was the clearing of Dundas Street which connected London to the port of the same name located on the western shore of Lake Ontario. Simcoe had ordered the road to be built to connect the proposed capital to the established settlements and ports to the east.
This land reserve remained undeveloped while the district surrounding it began to experience settlement. Farmers took advantage of the favourable growing conditions that the area provided, clearing and cultivating the fertile land and erecting homes and barns. Hamlets and villages began to appear in order to serve the needs of the rural inhabitants. The original seat of the Western District of Upper Canada was located at Vittoria, near Long Point on Lake Erie. As the areas to the west continued to be settled this site became less favourable for the
administrative centre. When the district courthouse at Vittoria burnt in November of 1825 it was decided that the administrative seat should be moved. Although no settlement yet existed, London was chosen due to its more central location to serve the growing populations to the west. The reserve of land which had been set aside for Simcoe’s capital was surveyed in 1826 by Thomas Burwell, providing a clean slate on which to lay-out an organized settlement (Miller 1988, 5). The original survey was bounded by North Street, now named Carling Street and Queens Avenue, to the North, Wellington Street to the East and the Thames River to the South and West. It consisted of a gridded street-network comprising a series of uniform blocks, each divided into ten equally sized lots.
With the land no longer in Crown reserve, development could begin at London. The lots created in the survey were given to those who agreed to pay a $32 patent and build a shanty 18 by 24 feet. The district courthouse, the focal point of the community, was completed in 1829; it remains standing today, however it no longer serves as a judiciary seat but rather the political seat of Middlesex County. Robert Carfrae who settled in 1827 recounted his memories of the early settlement which had the courthouse and two taverns at its nucleus (Unknown 1889, 215).
Thus, institutions for the maintenance of the law and the provisioning of libations which often lead to its violation were at the centre of London’s early development.
In the same year of Mr. Carfrae’s arrival, Dennis O’Brien took possession of a vacant blacksmith’s shop at Lot 18 on the South Side of Dundas Street which he converted into London’s first retail outlet (Unknown 1889, 216). The store was primitive, with a counter created by the laying of rough boards between two barrels. “The log house, which he had previously occupied and used as a store-room, was minus chinking, and through the crevices the curious settlers would spend hours observing his stock of frying-pans, griddles, spiders, baking-kettles, tinware, and a thousand other articles which make the visitor to the country store covet the whole stock” (Unknown 1889, 216). This rudimentary shop marked the origins of London’s retail landscape.
Within one year of the original survey, the retail sector had already come into existence with the settlement’s first store. Its location is noteworthy, occupying a site on Dundas Street which would become the city’s principle shopping street. It was joined by two taverns near the courthouse, one of which was located at the south east intersection of King and Ridout. This area was thus already established as the civic heart of the settlement. It would be here that locals, as well as those from the surrounding hinterland, would congregate and conduct their business; a place for the attending to the affairs of the public bureaucracy, for the procurement of provisions and for the lifting of spirits.
Goodhue and Lawrason joined the retail fray in 1832 with a general store, real estate office and post office at the intersection of Dundas and Ridout Streets (Armstrong 1986, 46), establishing this as the principle intersection in the village. It was the junction of two major arteries that ran not just through the town, but
connected out to the hinterland and distant communities. Ridout Street connected to Westminister Township via a bridge likely built in 1826, and to the areas north of the river West of the settlement via Blackfriars Bridge which was built in 1831. In fulfillment of Simcoe’s plan, Dundas Street connected London to the more developed east. These streets, which connected London with its hinterland and distant
communities, were the principle arteries in the early town. Retailers thus chose to locate along them in order to attract as many potential customers as possible. The logic evinced two-centuries earlier remains today as retailers continue to choose the
most visible and accessible sites along the city’s arteries, especially those which offer connections to points beyond the city.