Visit & Tour 2008 - (Page 12) 12 Tourism Services & St. Thomas Times-Journal, February 2008 • www.elgintourist.com St. Thomas Jumbo the Famous Elephant St. Thomas is a city on the move. No city is more strategically located, just moments from the 401 corridor, and halfway between Detroit on the west, Toronto and Buffalo to the east. Each is just a little more than two hours drive away. From the classic victorian architecture to quiet rural woodlands, great care has been taken to protect the area’s rich heritage. Numerous historical homes, churches, and landmarks dot the St. Thomas and neighbouring communities. Highlights include the Elgin County Courthouse, the St. Thomas City Hall, and the Old St. Thomas Church. www.st-thomas.on.ca Geerlinks Home Hardware Building Centre & Furniture 295 Wellington St., St. Thomas Ph: 519-631-2910 Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7-9, Sat. 7:30-6, Sun. 9-5 www.homefurniture.ca Jumbo, the African elephant was the star of the Barnum and Bailey circus and P.T. Barnum’s greatest coup. He is reputed to be the largest elephant ever in captivity and is probably the best known non-human that ever lived. His name is a household word in most countries of the world and is used to describe everything from ice cream cones to jet aircaft. On his second visit to St. Thomas, on September 15, 1885, Jumbo had a fatal collision with a Grand Trunk locomotive. To commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of this fateful event, St. Thomas Jumbo Foundation unveiled a monument on June 29, 1985. The statue was designed and constructed by Winston Bronnum in Sussex, New Brunswick. It is made of concrete with steel reinforcing rods throughout. The body is hollow and the walls are about seven inches thick.The legs are solid concrete and steel. The skin texture was achieved by troweling on three quarters of an inch of coloured cement and sand plaster. The statue with its six inch base weighs thirty-eight tons.The base pedestal was constructed on the site and weighs over one hundred tons. http://www.elgintourist.com http://www.st-thomas.on.ca http://www.homefurniture.ca http://www.homefurniture.ca
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