A grew up a fairly short drive away from St. Marys. I still live just over an hour away from this town in Perth County, Ontario. Yet, I’ve rarely stopped to visit. But, now that I have, I’m itching to get back for a more thorough photographic tour.
The unique stone architecture, using limestone quarried locally, sets St. Marys apart. Quite a bit of the town’s history has been preserved. As well, Canada’s baseball history has been preserved here since 1994 with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
On a recent visit, we captured some video travelling through the downtown core. As well, we grabbed some photos of the area along the banks of the Thames River. Below, there’s some more info on this gem of a town that is often overshadowed by the popularity of nearby Stratford, Ontario.
St. Marys, Ontario Video
Get a driver’s eye view of what St. Marys looks like. If you like the video, please give it a ‘Thumb’s Up’! We are always grateful for new subscribers to our YouTube Channel.
St. Marys, Ontario Photo Gallery
The photos in the gallery were mostly taken in an area off the Riverview Walkway, along the Thames River. The feature is the ‘Mill Race’, the remnants of a 19th century canal that diverted water from the Thames River to the mills that were in operation at the time.
The photos may have been cropped to fit the gallery format. For full size versions of the images, simply click on the individual photos.
High resolution versions of these images and other photos from the same day are available at Dreamstime. Want to earn cash from your own photos? Why not sign up for free with Dreamstime and start submitting now: Become a paid photographer!
About St. Marys, Ontario, Canada
St. Marys was established in 1844 and incorporated as a town in 1864. It is located within Perth County but operates independently from the level of government.
Nicknamed ‘The Stone Town’ for obvious reasons, over 7,000 residents call St. Marys home. The town is located just 20 kilometres southwest of Stratford, Ontario, 43 KM northeast of London and 168 KM west of downtown Toronto.
Seen in the photos and crossed in the video is the Victoria Bridge. This structure over the Thames River was built in 1865. In fact, the bridge was in place a few decades before the historic town hall was built in the late 1800s. That building can be seen in the video, right at the point where we turn around to head back toward the river.
Not seen in the video or photos but of equal historic significance:
Sarnia Bridge. This is a beautiful train trestle turned walkway just upstream from the Victoria Bridge. It was originally constructed in 1858 by the Grand Trunk Railway and stands high above the Thames. The railroad was abandoned by CNR in 1989 and the town purchased it in order to preserve this piece of town history.
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Not quite as popular as Cooperstown, the museum has been housed in St. Marys since 1994. Prior to that, it was first housed in Toronto at Exhibition Place after the Hall of Fame was founded in 1983. It also spent time at Ontario Place before moving west.
The Quarries. On Water Street, heading south out of town, The Quarries can’t be missed. These are two bodies of water on either side of the roadway. The Thames Quarry Company began removing stone in the mid 1850’s. The company ceased operations in 1930 and the property became town land in 1945. The east side is for swimming and the west side is for fishing.
About Our Small Town Ontario Series
With COVID-19 and the travel restrictions that come with it, we’ve decided to explore closer to home. We’ve started documenting those towns in Ontario, generally with populations under 10,000, that we would otherwise miss in our search for ‘bigger and better’.
It turns out, small towns have a lot to offer. Take the time and explore the hidden gems in this province.
Our first stop was: Palmerston, Ontario
But…
Especially while this pandemic continues, please be extremely careful and respectful when visiting. Small towns don’t have the capacity for a tourist onslaught and certainly don’t have the medical capacity if you carelessly start an outbreak. Heck, larger centres outside the Greater Toronto Area are having a hard enough time with the mass exodus out of the city.
Regardless of virus issues, we should all be following these guidelines:
