Ingersoll sits in Oxford County on the Thames River, close enough to London and Woodstock for a day trip and stubborn enough to keep its own story. Town museum copy says this is a place built on cheese: cooperative factories, a mammoth wheel shipped as a marketing stunt, and Ingersoll stamped on boxes leaving for Britain. James McIntyre's cheese poems still get a smile at the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum. Earlier still, the settlement at Oxford-on-the-Thames took the Ingersoll name in 1832 after Thomas Ingersoll's founding bargain with Simcoe.
The living landmark is Centennial Park. The cheese museum at 290 Harris Street, a kilometre north of Hwy 401 Exit 218, anchors the Oxford County Cheese Trail and doubles as the town cycling hub. Galleries hold the Ingersoll Sports Hall of Fame and Wilson Johnston woodcarvings. Out back sits Canada's only cheese playground, then the Ingersoll Creative Arts Centre, splash pad, sports fields, and Victoria Park Community Centre. The Thomas Ingersoll Trail follows Hall's Creek through more parks into downtown.
Ask someone what to show a relative and you get the museum, the trail, and a stop for local cheese in the gift shop. Fusion Youth Centre and Ingersoll Recreation keep younger calendars busy while Oxford Road construction notices remind everyone this is still a working county town off the 401. Admission at the cheese museum is by donation, which keeps a family stop easy after the 401 exit. On OpenStats City Score for 2026, Ingersoll sits at rank 52 of 125. The hometown framing stays Thames River dairy country first.