Exploring Great Destinations in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada
Effingham, Ontario

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Effingham, Ontario

Effingham is a tiny hamlet on the Effingham Creek, a tributary of the Twelve Mile Creek. It is located in Pelham, Ontario and is bordered by Short Hills Provincial Park. Orginally the land was deeded to David Secord, a United Empire Loyalist who was a member of Butler’s Rangers.

David Secord was given 400 acres by the crown in 1799 and he proceeded to build a grist mill as well as plant an apple orchard. In 1809 he sold his entire 400 acres to Samuel Beckett, a Quaker from the American colonies. Beckett continued to run the mills that Secord had started and a small community known as Beckett’s Mills developed.

In 1850 the hamlet was renamed Effingham and continued to flourish even after the building of the First Welland Canal. Today Effingham is still known for its apple orchards as well as the picturesque rolling countryside. The mills that once sustained the community have all vanished but the quick running streams that powered them are a hiker’s delight.