Several large drainage projects brought great improvement and remain as essential parts of the township's farmland infrastructure.

The township topography still has several large forested areas which are remnants of the original swamps on which drainage system runoff is concentrated.

[4] At its north end, the township is underlain with an unusually pure limestone deposit centred between Ingersoll and Beachville that extends north-west through most of Zorra and south-east into Norwich.

Open-pit mining of the limestone and kiln-firing to produce lime has been underway along the Thames River since pioneer days, and since the 1950s heavy industrial operations have led to nearly three thousand acres being licensed for extraction from pits more than 100 feet deep.

[5] Ontario government licensing of these quarry operations was granted with the expectation the sites when exhausted would be remediated by allowing them to fill with water, creating large lakes with potential for recreational uses.

As a test case begun in 2011, one of the operators is now seeking provincial licensing to use a 200-acre area which has been exhausted as a site for a megadump for municipal, industrial and institutional waste from Toronto, London and other cities.

Ingersoll believed he had assurance from the provincial governor John Graves Simcoe that there were no time limits on the grant, which was essential because of the arduous process Ingersoll would face building a wagon road up into the township from Brantford, and organizing the process for families to make the move from western Massachusetts into the Oxford wilderness.

As a result of the sale process used, Russell and his Willcocks family cousins became owners of 18,000 acres, and most of the rest was snapped up by other government insiders.

[11] The Willcocks holdings - 15,000 acres in Norwich township acquired by the family in the 1800 auction for £500 - were eventually sold to a group of Quakers from Dutchess County, New York in 1810 for £1,875.

He began a widely publicised movement to find solutions through public gatherings and newspaper advocacy all over Upper Canada, but in return was prosecuted and jailed by the government for sedition.

Gourlay's two-volume Statistical account of Upper Canada, compiled with a view to a grand system of emigration which he published in England in 1822 presented a detailed analysis based upon reports submitted to him by citizen groups in 57 townships in the province who yearned for improvements.

[13] It was not until 1824 that George Tillson came forward to purchase 600 acres in Dereham's south end, agreeing to pay £300, about fifteen times the 1800 sale price.

Tillson was a foundryman from Massachusetts who had come to Upper Canada two years earlier to join a partnership which operated a blast furnace in the long Point area to manufacture stoves and other household goods using bog ore gathered from nearby swamps.

His foundry works continued for a number of years but were closed in the 1840s as Tillson devoted his resources instead to building and operating saw mills to tap into enormous demand for lumber in New York state.

The county's tourism office indicates that "Beachville is also becoming a popular destination for birders and nature lovers wanting to hike the Thames River Trail".

Other notable buildings included two churches, one which was recently closed due to a lack of funding, and the Salford Community Centre (a former school) with a ball diamond.