Plaque recognizes 100 years of history at St. Peter's Seminary

London Community News

From its humble beginnings in the rectory next door to St. Peter’s Cathedral on Dufferin Avenue to its setting in the former Sunshine Park in north London, St. Peter’s Seminary has many stories to tell. On Friday (Sept. 14) — 100 years to the day classes first began — the Historic Sites Committee of the London Public Library Board unveiled its 67^th historic plaque outside the seminary. Representatives of the seminary, the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, the city, province and country, and the broader community braved a steady rain to take part in the unveiling. In 1912, Bishop Michael Francis Fallon founded St. Peter’s Seminary in the bishop’s house, now the rectory of St. Peter’s Cathedral. Having outgrown its small home, the seminary moved to its present location in 1926, a 25-acre field known to locals as Sunshine Park. When the seminary was built, it stood out amongst the fields and the quiet of the north end. Since its beginnings a century ago, St. Peter’s has educated 1,042 priests (of whom 23 were made bishops and one a cardinal), 43 permanent deacons and 118 lay graduates who have served in communities in Canada and abroad. The library’s Historic Sites Committee identifies and marks historic buildings, places and people of local significance. Find us on Facebook: London Community News