Publisher's Synopsis
The town of Ingersoll is ten miles from Woodstock, twenty-one miles from London, and ninety-eight from Toronto. Ingersoll was incorporated in 1865, and by the enterprise of its inhabitants enjoyed a steady and progressive growth. Most of the town was built on the sides and summit of the high gravelly banks of the River Thames, which flows through it and supplies constant water power, of which due advantage was taken by several factories at the waterside. The town got its name from a pioneer family named Ingersoll, who were among the first settlers in this district and took a very prominent part in the early career of the community.It was situated on the Great Western Division of the Grand Trunk Railway, and also on the Credit Valley Branch of the Canadian Pacific. The country around is fertile, and large quantities of cheese were shipped from here. The manufacture of flour and cornmeal, with woolen and planning mills, a tannery and four agricultural implement factories, formed its chief industries; grain, livestock, and general manufactured products, in addition to cheese, formed its chief shipments.In 1886 a special effort was made to induce desirable factories to locate here and in the following year the John Morrow Machine Screw Works, the Evans Bros. and Littler Piano factory and the Hault furniture factory were secured by giving liberal bonuses. Later on, the St. Charles Condenser and the Ingersoll Nut Factory were opened.Ingersoll was the first town in Canada to adopt the silica-barytic sidewalks in 1890 when a contract was given to Otto Guelich of Detroit, to construct a sidewalk on the east side of Thames Street from the Atlantic House to the Baptist Tabernacle, a distance of three blocks. In 1891 a local company was organized with Walter Mills as manager, and year by year the work has been carried on till now nearly every street on both sides has a nice, clean, smooth silica-barytic sidewalk, totaling about fifty miles.
