In 1836, the Canada Company, a large private land settlement agency, laid out a town plot (Mitchell) here on the Huron Road. Within a year, John Hicks, one of Logan Township's earliest settlers, had erected a hotel near that point where the road crossed the River Thames. Although settlement proceeded slowly at first, a sawmill was in operation by 1842. Following the opening of the Mitchell-Blanshard Road in 1845, stores and other mills were built and, in 1851, the population had reached 150. The arrival of the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railroad in 1857 greatly stimulated the development of Mitchell, and it was incorporated as a Village in that year. In 1874, with a population of some 2,000, it became a town.

Location

In Centennial Park, Huron Road and Blanchard Street, Mitchell

Themes

• Communities
• Industry and trade
• Transportation systems and communications