Birds-eye View of the London Exhibition Buildings and Grounds, 1879.
These grounds were acquired and buildings constructed in time for the first Provincial Agricultural Exhibition held at London in 1854.The site was subsequently used for local fairs and sports events, and also hosted the Provincial Exhibition of 1861. This engraving from The Globe and Canada Farmer (Toronto, 3 October, 1879) views the exhibition grounds from the north. In the foreground is Lake Horne, now the approximate route of the Canadian Pacific tracks. The main building in the background, completed in 1861, was London's first Crystal Palace. In 1887 the fair grounds were transferred to Queen's Park (then Salter's Grove) in East London, still the home of the annual Western Fair.
Courtesy: Regional Collection, The D.B. Weldon Library, University of Western Ontario
