It was formed by amalgamation of the townships of Stephen and Usborne with the Town of Exeter in 2001, in an Ontario-wide municipal restructuring imposed by the provincial government.

[3] The community is home to Centralia/James T. Field Memorial Aerodrome, a public airport and former British Commonwealth Air Training Plan base.

The airport has no schedule airline service (closest is London International Airport), serving only private general aviation aircraft.

The airfield host a company that modifies private jets.

This Southwestern Ontario geographical article is a stub.