Tavern Carriage Shed

Tavern Carriage Shed. . , Replica Building Built 1964 , The Tavern Carriage Shed was originally built as a replica fire hall at the museum, which opened to the public in 1966. Although early sketches of the Village show that a fire hall was part of our first curator Wilfrid Jury's vision for the site, most rural communities did not establish professional fire departments until the 20th century. The fire hall building's defining feature was its tower, which would have been used to drain and dry canvas fire hoses. In 2010, the tower was removed due to structural concerns., Most taverns in Middlesex County would have had a carriage shed in close proximity to house patrons' horses and buggies. Similar to this were livery stables, often located near hotels or boarding houses, where horses could be temporarily housed or horses, teams, or wagons could be hired. Stagecoaches also stopped at taverns, providing smaller communities with transportation to neighbouring towns and cities before they were connected by rail., Emergency Services in London , London's first fire hall was volunteer run and built in 1847- 2 years after the Great Fire of London destroyed 150 buildings, about one-fifth of the town. It was used until 1880. At first the fire brigade was volunteer-run, but in 1873, 17 paid firefighters were hired., In 1855, London established a regular police force. Constable Peter Butler III became the first Black constable in the Middlesex County Police in 1888. He served the community as a member of the force until he joined the Ontario Provincial Police 3 years after it was founded in 1910. London’s General Hospital opened in 1875. It was expanded in 1899 and renamed the Victoria Hospital. A new larger St. Jospeh’s Hospital was built in 1892 to replace the smaller facility opened in 1888.