The Founding of Lucan

Photo by contributor Alison Mitchell-Reid - Posted September 2009

Plaque Location

The County of Middlesex
The Township of Lucan Biddulph
In a barn behind the Lucan Area Heritage & Donnelly Museum

Coordinates: N 43 11.292 W 81 24.223

Plaque Text

Lucan was founded in anticipation of the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway to Sarnia, projected in 1854 and built 1855-59. The first settlers had been members of the Negro Wilberforce Colony in 1830-35. One of this group, Peter Butler Sr., had by 1855 acquired the western part of the site of Lucan. The eastern part was acquired jointly by the Hon. Donald and John MacDonald, and the first village lots were sold in 1855. A steam grist mill, stores and hotels were built. Lucan Post Office was opened on June 1, 1857, and, with the completion of the railway, the settlement prospered. The Lucan Foundry, a large plant specializing in agricultural machinery, was founded in 1861. A county by-law passed in 1871 provided for the incorporation of Lucan as a village.

Related Ontario plaque
The Wilberforce Settlement 1830

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Settlements

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