Daniel Rapelje, descendant of a Walloon family settled in New Amsterdam, now New York City, at its inception in the seventeenth century.

Owner of the New England Mill, Rapelje subsequently donated two acres of land for the building of Old St. Thomas Church.

[6] In 1871, the developing village of Millersburg, which included these lands east of the London and Port Stanley Railway, amalgamated with St.

In the 1950s and 1960s, with the decline of the railway as a mode of transportation, other industry began to locate in the city, principally primary and secondary automotive manufacturing.

Between 1881 and 1988 the city had a private woman's school operating called Alma College which was destroyed by fire in 2008.

[16] A number of other, smaller auto parts plants also closed as a result, putting thousands more out of work.

One automotive materials supplier, A. Schulman, had previously closed its local manufacturing plant in 2008, one of the first actions of a new CEO installed in January.

[22][23] In April 2023, an announcement was made for the building of a battery plant by PowerCo, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG and to have it running by 2027.

From 1978 to 1979 Canada Southern Railway Station served as the only Canadian stop for the short-lived Amtrak Niagara Rainbow route.

Also a low-power FM radio station — VF8016, 90.1 MHz — broadcasts religious activities from Faith Baptist Church of St. Thomas.

CFHK-FM, branded as 103.1 Fresh FM, is also licensed to St. Thomas, although its programming originates from London and targets all of southwestern Ontario.

The dragway is located a reasonable distance away from the town and minutes east of the historical community of Sparta.

The Lions Club Dog Park is located at the far west end of main street, at 25 Talbot Road.

The Kettle Creek Dog Park, opened in July 2014, is located just north of St Thomas, off Highbury on Mapleton Line, 200 metres beyond Dan Paterson Conservation Area.

The park is managed by Kettle Creek Conservation Authority in partnership with STDOA, the Municipality of Central Elgin and the City of St Thomas.

St. Thomas is also home to the North America Railway Hall of Fame, which is located in the CASO train station.

[citation needed] St. Thomas is home to the Railway City Brewing Company, one of 29 members of the Ontario Craft Brewers.

[25] As a county seat and major railway junction, St. Thomas was an important and vibrant town in early Ontario.