Text from the Plaque
John Galt, the celebrated Scottish novelist and first superintendent of the Canada Company, founded Guelph on April 23, 1827, naming it "in compliment to the Royal Family". Established and heavily promoted by Galt as the headquarters for the development of the Company's huge land purchase, the Huron Tract, the town subsequently declined on his removal from office in 1829. Increased agricultural settlement in the area and Guelph's elevation to administrative centre for the new Wellington District contributed to its economic recovery by the mid 1840s. The town's development as a railway centre in the late 1850s encouraged the influx of light industry in the following decades which further diversified its economic base. Under provincial statute, Guelph became a City on April 23, 1879.
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