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The Canada Southern Railway Station, located in St. Thomas, Ontario, is presently under restoration. It was completed in 1873 in the Italianate style and was the largest train station in Southwestern Ontario. It will become the location of exhibitions and education programs related to the interpretation of rail history in St. Thomas and region. At one time, the Canada Southern (later Michigan Central Railroad and New York Central) was the largest regional employer.
Education program:
The Canada Southern Railway Station: Active in Peace & War
This program involves a visit to the Canada Southern Railway Station. This Railway had a major economic impact on St. Thomas, tripling the town's population in a decade. This station saw the departure of local troops for World War I, while also providing cosmopolitan passenger connections in times of peace to such major American cities as New York, Detroit, Buffalo and Chicago. The station dining room provided employment to recent immigrant women, who also lived on the second floor of the structure. For over 100 years the station was the first point of contact to a new life in St. Thomas and area for immigrants from around the world.
Students will study railway and town maps, timetables and photographs in order to gain an understanding of the degree to which this means of transportation of people and goods was central to the local and Canadian economic system and crucial to the development of Canada as a country.
Curriculum Links: Grade 8 geography
Grade 8 history
antidiscrimination education
numeracy
literacy
Location & Contact Information:
North America Railway Hall of Fame
in the Canada Southern Railway Station
P.O. Box 20040
St. Thomas, ON N5P 4H4
Phone: 519-633-2535
Fax: 519-633-3087