The Victoria steamboat disaster (also called The Victoria Day Disaster) was a Canadian maritime disaster where on May 24, 1881, the sternwheel passenger steamboat SS Victoria, capsized and sank in the Thames River near what is today Greenway Off-Leash Dog Park in Kensal Park, London, Ontario. The tragedy was one of the worst maritime disasters in Canada at the time, and made major headlines in places as far as England and the United States due to the severity of the disaster. An estimate between 182 and 198 is commonly regarded as the total death toll, although no record of the actual count of passengers was ever taken for those aboard during the Victoria's last voyage, and the vessel was dangerously overcrowded with upwards to 600 passengers. The disaster resulted in the gradual decline in popularity or trust of the riverboat services in London, Ontario through the remainder of the decade, and by the turn of the 20th century, ferries became obsolete when in 1895 the London Street Railway expanded its streetcar services to Byron. Background In the late 19th century, London, Ontario had a population of roughly 19,000 people and was rapidly becoming a larger and larger city. Future growth the City of London was guaranteed after a new water supply was secured at the fresh water springs near the village of Byron (today a part of London) on the southern banks of the river in 1878. The construction of the hydraulic-driven pumphouse and a small reservoir on Chestnut Hill (today Reservoir Hill in Byron) led to the establishment of Waterworks Park, today known as Springbank Park, a long stretch of picnic and recreational area along the southern shore of the Thames River in Byron. The completion of the London Waterworks System in 1878, by building a dam at the park, had the effect of raising the water in the river upstream, and thus provided a beautiful stretch of some four miles of the park to be used for boating purposes. Collection ponds were built along the south side of the river, one of which still exists at Storybook Gardens. Some enterprising locals took advantage of the boating opportunities in the river by establishing two boating companies: London & Waterworks Line and the Thames Navigation Company. Small passenger boats were soon operating on the river, which ran regular trips through the summer between Downtown London and Byron. A boat dock