The Governor's Road: Early Buildings and Families from Mississauga to London

Stafford Johnston was a freelance reviewer living in Mitchell, Ontario.

Readers acquainted with the three previous books produced by the Byers-McBurney team will not be surprised at the authors’ expertise in recognizing and understanding early Ontario architecture. To their field of expertise they bring a lively and intelligent curiosity about the people who built the houses and lived in them.

The road, built to the orders of Lieut.-Governor John Graves Simcoe, after he had in person, in 1793, explored the route through virgin forest, ran from the site of Dundas, Ontario, to the site of London, Ontario. The Governor’s Road exists today in part as Highway 99 and in part as Highway 2. Byers and McBurney have used the line of the road as the string on which to hang their newest collection of pictures and stories about early Ontario buildings which have survived to be seen today. With justifiable literary licence they have extended the line to go by Dundas Street (now Highway 5) from Mississauga to Dundas and thence to London. The authors have enriched the text with scores of human-interest stories about the pioneers who created the architectural heritage of this 100-mile stretch of Old Ontario. Beautiful photography by Hugh Robertson is almost enough in itself to make the book worth the price. Good maps are included.