Settling in St. Marys

Today was the first of three visits we have planned to learn from the experts at the St. Marys Museum.  This morning, we learned that 'old' St. Marys used to look very different than the way it looks today but that it had 4 important resources that attracted the settlers and made them want to stay here.  The important resources are:
*WATER - The  Thames River and Trout Creek provided drinking water, cooking water, bathing water and water power that could move a water-wheel to turn their wheat into flour
*TREE- The many trees in the area at the time were used for building materials and fuel to heat their homes
*Limestone - The limestone that they found here was a very strong building material that they could use for homes
*Land/soil - the soil was fertile and perfect for growing crops which they needed to feed themselves (we saw some interesting tools- sickle and scythe used to cut wheat and a flailer to separate it from the shaft)
We also learned about how surveyors measured the plots of land they sold to settlers using special iron measuring chains.  We made our own chains and measured different distances within the museum by counting chain lengths and links.
It was a great introduction to what life was like here LONG AGO. We can't wait until next week to learn more!