|
Happy Birthday Strathroy!
Help us celebrate Strathroy’s 150th birthday!
Join us this year as Strathroy celebrates an important milestone—its 150th birthday!
This 150th anniversary is an exciting time to remember the determination of our founders, and celebrate the spirit that makes our community so great today. Join the party by contributing your Strathroy Story, attending a community event, or becoming a community partner.
Browse our site for many fun and special ways to mark this milestone, and visit often to stay in the loop!
Sesquicentennial: 1860-2010
The story of Strathroy begins on the Buchanan family farm in the district of Omagh, County
Tyrone, Ireland. The family estate was named Strath-Roy, translated literally from old Irish as
‘Valley-Red’. This was the birthplace of James Buchanan (b. February 1, 1772), a prosperous
lawyer and gentleman farmer who journied across the Atlantic in 1816 with his wife Elizabeth
to serve his appointment as the British Consul at New York. It was as a direct result of his
proficiency in his role as Consul, forwarding British subjects from New York City to Upper
Canada, that His Majesty’s Secretary of State conferred upon James a grant of land in consideration
for his services. These 1200 acres, which James named Strathroy after his family estate,
were located on Bear Creek (now known as the Sydenham River). On September 21, 1831, James
gave a portion of this grant to his son, John Stewart Buchanan, who settled on this plot of land
in Adelaide Township in 1832.
Born January 3, 1815, John Stewart Buchanan was only 17 years of age when he ventured
into the rough landscape of Upper Canada to settle his father’s land. Despite his youth and
relative inexperience, John Stewart Buchanan managed to build a small sawmill on the Sydenham
River by 1834 and was persuaded by local farmers to add a grist mill on the same site two
years later. The establishment of these two operations attracted pioneers and investors to this
small outpost in the bush. John Stewart Buchanan quickly began to sever portions of his land to
encourage new settlement. In 1837, he transferred part of his holdings for the mills to business
partners Timothy Cook and James Keefer. By 1841, there were 14 pioneers settled around the
mills, and Hiram Dell opened the first general store in that year.
With the expansion of the Great Western Railway through Strathroy in 1856 the settlement
experienced unprecedented growth resulting in the incorporation of the Village of Strathroy
on June 24, 1859. Now, 150 years later, we reflect on the pioneering spirit that led to the development
of a prosperous village in the wilderness and admire the legacy of its founder, John
Stewart Buchanan.
| 
