Madison County History and Genealogy

History and Genealogy



History of Madison County


Incorporation and Growth of London


From History of Madison County, Ohio, Chester E. Bryan, Supervising Editor, B.F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis (1915)

London was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, bearing date of February 10, 1881, to take effect and to be in force from and after April first of that year. For many years the officers elected by the people consisted of a president, recorder and five trustees

For quite a period after the town was laid out. its growth was decidedly slow, and after it had attained the growth of thirty years it seemed to remain almost entirely in status quo. It is said that an Irishman who visited London about that time, after sauntering leisurely through its few streets, and hearing not the sound of a hammer, or the buzz of a single notable industry, is said, in the very depth of disgust, to have exclaimed, "Be dad, this is the first town I ever saw that was entirely finished!" Neither was the village very attractive at an early period. A venerable doctor of southwestern Ohio, on his first visit to London, gave offense to some of the residents, by recommending that they get their gardens lathed and plastered, to keep out the frogs. This visit was made in a wet season and it is no doubt true that the frogs were holding full sway.

After remaining in a state of torpidity for a number of years and apparently gaining a broad foundation for the building which was to come later, London began to arouse itself, and grow until the spirit of enterprise, eventually, made it what it is today, one of the most substantial, bustling, wealthy and enterprising communities in this section of the country. Its broad streets, substantial business buildings and beautiful residences give to it an air of solidity possessed by few towns of its size in the state. Nor has the financial side of the town alone grown at the expense of the broader sides of life. The literary and social, moral and ethical, have all been looked after and rank well with the growth of the town.


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