St. Thomas, Ontario

St. Thomas, Ontario Circus mural with Jumbo on the northwest corner of the Manitoba St. and Talbot St. intersection. Motto: Strength through progress Coordinates: 42°47′58″N 81°12′52″W / 42.79944, -81.21444 Country Canada Province Ontario County Elgin CountyUrban area Settled 1810Incorporated 1852(Villige) 1861(town)
1881(city) Government - MayorCliff Barwick - Governing Body St. Thomas City Council - MPs Joe Preston(CPC) - MPPs Stephen J. Peters(OLP) Area - City 35.48 km² (15.1 sq mi) Population (2006)[1] - City 36,110 - Density1,017.7/km² (2,669.8/sq mi) - Metro457,720 Census divisionpopulation: 81,553 Time zone EST(UTC-5) - Summer (DST) EDT(UTC-4) Postal code span N5P, N5R Website: City of St. Thomas

St. Thomas is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gaining its city charter on March 4, 1881.

1 History
2 Government
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 Media
6 Parks
7 Notable residents
8 External links

History

St. Thomas railway station, built between 1871 and 1873. Currently it is under restoration.

The city, located at the intersection of two historical roads, was first settled in 1810. It was named the seat of the new Elgin County in 1844 and was incorporated as a village in 1852, as a town in 1861, and as a city in 1881.

Life-sized Jumbo statue

In the late 19th century and early 20th century several railways were constructed through the city, and St. Thomas became an important railway junction. A total of 26 railways have passed through the city since the first railway was completed in 1856. It has earned the title of the "Railway Capital of Canada." In the 1950s and 1960s, with the decline of the railway as a mode of transportation, other industry began to locate in the city, principally primary and secondary automotive manufacturing.

Jumbo (the elephant) died here on September 15, 1885, when a train crashed into him. There is a life-sized commemorative statue that was erected in 1985, on the centennial of Jumbo's demise.

The city was named after Thomas Talbot who helped promote the development of this region during the early 19th century.

Government

Cliff Barwick is the current mayor of St. Thomas. The City Council consists of the mayor and seven Aldermen, all elected at large.

St. Thomas Transit, which includes both conventional bus service and paratransit, is owned by the city and staffed and operated by Aboutown Transportation.

Demographics

Protestant: 52.1%
Catholic: 21%
No affiliation: 22.1%
Other: 4.8%

Education

Fanshawe College has a campus in St. Thomas. Catholic schools are controlled by the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) and public schools are controlled by the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB). There are two independent Christian schools, St Thomas Community Christian School and Faith Christian Academy.

School name Type Grades № students Arthur Voaden S.S.public 9–12 670[2]Balaclava St. P.S. public JK–8 200[2]Central Elgin Collegiate Institutepublic 9–12 767[2]Edward St. P.S. public JK–6 152[2]Elgin Court P.S. public JK–6 413[2]Elmdale P.S. public JK–6 135[2]Fanshawe CollegeForest Park P.S. public JK–6 675[2]Homedale P.S. public 7–8 546[2]Locke's P.S. public JK–8 453[2]Monsignor Morrison Catholic JK–8 480[3]Myrtle St. P.S. public JK–6 211[2]New Sarum P.S. public JK–8 453[2]Parkside C.I.public 9–12 940[2]St. Gabriel's C.S. Catholic K–3 St. Joseph's H.S.Catholic 9–12 St. Raphael's C.S. Catholic 4–8 305[3]Scott St. P.S. public JK–8 236[2]Southwold P.S. public JK–8 626[2]Wellington St. P.S. public K–6 300[2]

^ Population and Dwelling Counts, for Canada and Census Subdivisions (Municipalities), 2001 and 1996 Censuses - 100% Data
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o As of 2003-10-30, obtained from the TVDSB website.
^ a b As of 2004–2005 school year, obtained from the LDCSB website.

Abbreviations: C.I. = Collegiate Institute; C.S. = Catholic School; H.S. = High School; P.S. = Public School; S.S. = Secondary School

Media

St. Thomas has several media outlets based in the city. The St. Thomas Times-Journal is the city's newspaper, owned by Bowes Publishers. Rogers Cable has a local cable television channel. A low-power FM radio station — VF8016, 90.1 MHz — broadcasts religious activities from Faith Baptist Church of St. Thomas.

CFHK-FM, branded as 103.1 Fresh FM, is also licensed to St. Thomas, although its programming largely targets the larger London market.

Although the city does not have its own television station, Industry Canada has allocated channel 33 for future use in St. Thomas.

Recently, Rogers Communications open a station on Talbot Street in the downtown area. The station is STTV, and is located on dial position 13.

Parks

Satellite image of St. Thomas

There are two major parks in the city: Pinafore Park in the south, beside Pinafore Lake; and Waterworks Park in the north, which is straddled by Kettle Creek and the Waterworks Reservoir nearby.

The Trans Canada Trail goes through St. Thomas, with a pavilion located in Jonas Street Park.