Welcome to the Lagers in London, the walking tour that explores the history of the city’s relationship with liquor. You might be wondering, why beer? Well, there is a large market for beer worldwide, and within Canada. For example, in 2016, beer made up about $13.6 billion of Canada’s gross domestic product. Beer brewing in Canada also goes back over 450 years. So why London? The answer is simple. Location, location, location. But in all seriousness, location and provenance are why beer culture and production has been and continues to be so prevalent in London. This city is home to both commercial and craft breweries, accounting for many of Canada’s beer companies. London is also home to the Labatt brewery, which was one of the “big three” brewers that emerged following World War Two. The audience and therefore demand for the production of beer comes from a local, national, and global market. From the local side, not only is there a market and audience for it, but there is no tax put on locally brewed beers, in comparison to the out-of-province tax put on beer by the provincial government. The local beer companies in turn create a strong physical presence in the region. In other words, it’s hard to miss London’s connection to beer because of the brewing facilities located in the city. The following is a list of beer that came out of London, including both new and old companies/breweries:The Labatt Brewery Anderson Craft Ales Forked River Brewing Company London Brewing Toboggan Brewing Company Powerhouse Brewing Company BeerlabCurley Brewing Company Dundas and Sons Brewing Company Storm Stayed Brewing Company Union Ten Distilling Co. Paradigm Spirits Co.
(Please stand at the corner of King and Ridout next to the heritage plaque to get the best view.)Welcome to King Street, which was also known as Whiskey Row during the late 1800s! Whiskey Row was infamous for drinking, debauchery, fights and even a murder. This was an area where women did not walk unattended. We are standing in the original placement of London’s first tavern. Built by Peter McGregor, the city’s first tavern was a log structure in London’s pioneer days of the 1820s at the corner of King and Ridout. As the population grew from its pioneer days into a quickly developing city, London’s need for hotels and taverns skyrocketed. From the rapidity of industrialization, the expansion of the Great Western Railway in 1853 and the tourism and commerce that developed as a result, public drinking and the number of businesses considered “of ill repute” grew as well.
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(We suggest that you stand across the street from the Market to get the best look of it.)The location of this stop on the tour is Covent Garden Market, specifically because this was the view from the first London Police Station located on Richmond Street in 1855. The London Police is essential to this tour on alcohol/beer in London because the police force was in charge of managing individuals who abused alcohol. This stop on the tour will provide a brief history of London Police, followed by some tales of drunkards, as written about in the London Free Press during the 1870s.
(We suggest you stand across the street from the location)Welcome to the Fraser House, one of the many meeting locations for Temperance groups in London. This particular location was the meeting place for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, whose London chapter had been active since the 1870s. There were as many as 11 active temperance lodges in London in the mid to late 1800s, the majority of which met weekly. Temperance is defined as "moderate self-restraint". In Ontario, for a good portion of the late 19th century, and early 20th, temperance faced off against “King Alcohol”. This movement began as a desire to help maintain familial harmony and decent in the public. It was spearheaded by religious movements and became a well-founded movement in Canada and the United States.
(We suggest that you stand on the corner of Simcoe and Richmond across from Labatt to get the best view)Welcome to the Labatt Brewery! Located at 150 Simcoe Street, this massive complex currently spans this entire block. But it was not always this sprawling. The company has had several periods of expansion to reach its current size, particularly between 1861 to 1870. This was before a freak fire broke out in 1874 and burned down the site. John Labatt, the son of the founder John Kinder Labatt, took the opportunity to quickly rebuild and increase the brewing capacity from 6,000 barrels of beer a year to 30,000. It was his efforts to really push the brewing capacity of Labatt that helped the company have its breakthrough and emerge as one of Canada’s top brewers.
(We recommend that you stay standing in the same location, but turn to look at the Beer Store to reduce noise pollution)The Labatt Beer Store is the final stop on our tour of London’s beer related history, and it’s also where we speed up to recent history and the modern day. We’ve talked about the early industry and culture surrounding beer; temperance, prohibition, and policing; brewers and some of the drama around their business. Listening to all of this, you might think that the tensions and drama surrounding beer and alcohol consumption have disappeared in the present day. You would be wrong.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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Explore London's history with one of its biggest (and most popular) exports: beer! This quick walking tour introduces you to some of the important sites to London's history with liquor. It also covers the greater social history of Ontario's changing relationship with alcohol and the way in which London's relationship with beer shaped economics, politics, and culture in general.
